Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/729

 THOMAS

667

THOMAS

(1274) and in the Council of Florence (1493). In the range of human reasonings on deep subjects there can be found nothing to surpass the sublimity and depth of the argument adduced by St. Thomas to prove that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son (cf. Summa t.heol., I, Q. x.\xvi, a. 2); but it must be borne in mind that our Faith is not based on that argument alone, (b) "Officium de festo Cor- poris Christ i". — Mandonnet (Ecrits, p. 127) declares that it is now established beyond doubt that St. Thomas is the author of the beautiful Office of Corpus Christ i, in which sohd doctrine, tender piety, and enlightening Scriptural citations are combined, and expressed in language remarkably accurate, beautiful, chaste, and poetic. Here we find the well-known hymns, "Sacris Solemniis", "Pange Lingua" (con- cluding in the "Tantum Ergo"), "Verbum Super- num" (conchiding with the "O Salutaris Hostia"), and, in the Mass, the beautiful sequence "Lauda Sion". In the responses of the offioe, St. Thomas places side by side words of the New Testament affirming the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and texts from the Old Testament refer- ring to the types and figures of the Eucharist (see Vaughan, op. cit., i)p. SIO sqq.", Caswall, "L)Ta Ca- thohca", London, 1840; Gueranger, "The Liturgical Year; Feast of Corpus Christi"). Santeuil, a poet of the seventeenth century, said he would give all the verses he had WTitten for the one stanza of the "Ver- bum Supernum": "Se nascens dedit socium, conves- cens in edulium: Se moriens in pretium, Se regnans dat in pripmium" — "In birth, man's fellow-man was He, His meat, w'hile sitting at the Board: He died his Ransomer to be. He reigns to be his Great Reward" (tr. by Marquis of Bute). Perhaps the gem of the whole office is theantiphon "O Sacrum Convivium" (cf. Conway, "St. Thomas Aquinas", London and New York,"l9n, p. fil). (c) The "Catena Aurea", though not as original as his other writings, furnishes a striking proof of St. Thomas's prodigious memory and manifests an intimate acquaintance with the Fathers, of the Church. The work contains a series of passages selected from the writings of the various Fathers, arrangefl in such order that the texts cited form a running commentary on the Gospels. The commentary on St. Matthew was dedicated to Urban IV. An English translation of the "Catena Aurea" was edited by John Henry Newman (4 vols., Oxford, 1.S41-1S4.5; see Vaughan, op. cit., vol. II, pp. 529 .sqq.). (7) The "Summa theologica". — This work immor- talized St. Thoma-s. The author himself modestly considered it simply a manual of Christian doctrine for the use of students. In reality it is a complete, scientifically arranged exposition of theology and at the .same time a summary of Christian philo.sophy (see SuMM.B, SuMMrrL.«). In the brief prologue St. Thomas first calls attention to the difliculties expe- rienced by students of sacred doctrine in hisday, the causes a.ssigned being: the mult iphcat ion of use- less questions, articles, and arguments; the lack of scientific order; frequent repetitions, "which beget di.sgu.st and confusion in the minds of learners". Then he adds: "Wishing to avoid these and similar drawbacks, we shall endeavour, confiding in the Divine a.ssislance, to treat of these things that pertain to sacred doctrine with brevity and clearness, in so far a.s the .subject to be treated will permit." In the introductory question, "On Sacred Doctrine", he proves (hat, besides the knowledge which reason affords. Revelation al.so is neces,sarv for salvation, first, because witliout it men could not know the super- natural end to which they must tend by their volun- t.ary acts; secdndly, because, without |{i'velation, even the truths loiuerning (ioil which could be prov<'d by reason wouhl be known "only by a few, after a long time, and with the admixture of many errors". When revealed truths have been accepted, the mind

of man proceeds to explain them and to draw conclu- sions from them. Hence results theology, which is a science, because it proceeds from principles that are certain (a. 2). The object, or subject, of this science is God; other things are treated in it only in so far as they relate to God (a. 7). Reason is used in theology not to prove the truths of faith, which are accepted on the authority of God, but to defend, explain, and develop the doctrines revealed (a. S). He thus announces the division of the "Summa": "Since the chief aim of this sacred science is to give the knowl- edge of God, not only as He is in Himself, but also as He is the Beginning of all things, and the End of all, especially of rational creatures, we shall treat first of God; secondly, of the rational crea- ture's advance towards Ciod {de motu crcaturce rationalis in Detmi); thirdly, of Christ, Who, as Man, is the way by which we tend to God." God in Himself, and as He is the Creator; God as the End of all things, especially of man ; God as the Redeemer — these are the leading ideas, the great headings, under which all that pertains to theology is contained.

(a) Sub-divisions. — (i) The First Part is divided into three tracts: (o) On those things which pertain to the Essence of God; (/3) On the distinction of Persons in God (the mystery of the Trinity); (7) On the produc- tion of creatures by God and on the creatures pro- duced, (ii) The Second Part, On God as He is in the End of man, is sometimes called the Moral Theology of St. Thomas, i. e., his treali.se on the end of man and on human acts. It is subdivided into two parts, known as the Finst Section of the Second (I-II, or la 2ae) and the Second of the Second (II-II, or 2a 2s). (a) The First of the Second. — The first five ques- tions are devoted to proving that man's last end, his beatitude, consists in the po.ssession of God. Man attains to that end or tleviates from it by human acts, i. e. by free, deliberate acts. Of human acts he treats, first, in general (in all but the first five ques- tions of the I-II), secondly, in particular (in the whole of the II-II). The treatise on human acts in general is divided into two parts: the first, on human acts in themselves; the other, on the principles or causes, extrinsic or intrinsic, of those acts. In these tracts, and in the Second of the Second, St. Thomas, following Aristotle, gives a perfect description and a wonder- fully keen analysis of the movements of man's mind and heart. (/3) The Second of the Second considers human acts, i. e., the virtues and vices, in particular. In it St. Thomas treats, first, of tho.se things that pertain to all men, no matter what may be their station in life, and, secondly, of those things that per- tain to some men only. Things that pertain to all men are reduced to seven headings: Faith, Hope, and Charity; Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temper- ance. Under each title, in order to avoid repetitions, St. Thomas treats not only of the virtue itself, but also of the vices opposed to it, of the commandment to practise it, and of the gift of the Holy Ghost which corresponds to it. Things pertaining (o some men only are reduced to three headings: the graces freely given (gralicF gratis dalw) to certain individuals for the good of the Church, such as the gifts of tongues, of prophecy, of miracles; the active and the contem- plative life; the particular states of life, and iluties of those who are in different states, especially bishops and religious, (iii) The Third Part treats of Christ and of the benefits which He has conferred u|)on man, hence three tracts: On the Incarnation, and on what the Saviour did and suffered; On the Sacraments, which were instituted by Christ, and have their effi- cacy from His merits and sufferings; On Eternal Life, i. e., on the end of the world, the resurrect ion of bodies, judgment, the punishment of the wicked, the happi- ness of the just who, through Christ, attain to eternal life in heaven.

Eight years were given to the composition of this