LatineEnglish
Articulus Sextus
De Angelorum gratia
De Angelorum gratia
Sixth Article
On the Grace of the Angels
On the Grace of the Angels
807. Gratia considerari potest vel prout habetur in termino consummata; vel prout habetur in via - quoad hanc fieri potest quaestio, utrum Angeli habuerint gratiam; et quandonam illa ornati fuerint.
807. Grace can be considered either as it is had in the consummated term, or as it is had on the way. With respect to the latter, the question can be raised whether the angels had grace, and when they were adorned with it.
808. Unde, certum est imprimis Angelos malos non habuisse gratiam consummatam, seu non fuisse creatos in supernaturali beatitudine. Etenim beatus peccare non potest: sed angeli mali peccaverunt postquam creati sunt, ut est de fide certum, et infra ostendemus, ergo non fuerunt beati a principio creationis. Majorem supponimus: tum quia visio Dei clara ita necessario conjungit voluntatem Deo, ut reddat illam impeccabilem: tum etiam, quia de ratione beatitudinis est rectitudo voluntatis. (Vid. nn. 611. seqq.)
808. Hence, it is first certain that the evil angels did not have consummated grace, or were not created in supernatural beatitude. For a blessed one cannot sin; but the evil angels sinned after they were created, as is certain by faith and as we shall show below. Therefore they were not blessed from the beginning of creation. We suppose the major: both because the clear vision of God so necessarily joins the will to God that it renders it impeccable; and also because rectitude of will belongs to the nature of beatitude. See nn. 611 ff.
809. Neque Angeli boni in Beatitudine supernaturali creati fuerunt. Ut enim ad hanc pervenirent debuerunt imprimis certare. Revera lex Dei "non coronabitur nisi qui legitime certaverit," non solum pro hominibus, sed etiam pro angelis lata est: tum quia ad perfectionem divinae providentiae ita expedit, quia opera ejus sunt misericordia et veritas, tum etiam quia in majorem sanctorum angelorum redundat etiam honorem. Tum etiam quia teste Paulo, etiam angeli judicandi sunt: judicium autem tam de praemio bonorum, quam de poena malorum est futurum. Unde communiter Patres docent a) Angelos bonos peccare potuisse. Ita, ex. gr., S. Gregorius (in Ezech. hom. 7.), ait: "Natura angelica quando creata est liberum accepit, utrum vellet in humilitate persistere, et in Omnipotentis Dei conspectu permanere, an ad superbiam laberetur, et a beatitudine caderet: seu quia cadentibus aliis, sancti angeli in sua beatitudine perstiterunt, hoc acceperunt in munere, ut jam cadere omnino non possent." - Docent b) Angelos bonos beatitudinem meruisse, ut statim videbimus.
809. Nor were the good angels created in supernatural beatitude. For in order that they might arrive at it, they first had to contend. Indeed the law of God, "he will not be crowned unless he has contended lawfully," was laid down not only for men, but also for angels: both because this is fitting for the perfection of divine providence, since his works are mercy and truth, and also because it redounds to the greater honor of the holy angels. And also because, with Paul as witness, even angels are to be judged; but judgment will be concerning both the reward of the good and the punishment of the evil. Hence the Fathers commonly teach a) that the good angels were able to sin. Thus, for example, St. Gregory (on Ezekiel, homily 7) says: "When the angelic nature was created, it received freedom whether it wished to persist in humility and remain in the sight of Almighty God, or to slide into pride and fall from beatitude; or because, when others fell, the holy angels persisted in their beatitude, they received this as a gift, that now they could not fall at all." - They teach b) that the good angels merited beatitude, as we shall see at once.
810. Angeli boni certe habuerunt gratiam sanctificantem, antequam beatitudinem consequerentur. Etenim nemo potest gloriam vere mereri, nisi sit in statu gratiae, uti in tractatu de merito traditur. Atqui Angeli boni meruerunt gloriam. Ergo.
Prob. min. ex Patribus. S. Augustinus (de correp. et grat. c. 10.) docet, sicut mali Angeli per liberum arbitrium beatitudinem amiserunt "ita sanctos Angelos per liberum arbitrium (adjutum gratia) stetisse, et hujus mansionis debitam mercedem meruisse. Tantam scilicet plenitudinem beatitudinis, qua illis certissimum sit semper se in illa esse mansuros." - S. Isidorus (l. 1. sent. c. 10.): "Post Angelorum ruinam hi qui permanserunt, firmitatem meruerunt aeternae perseverantiae et beatitudinis." - Gelasius (disput. cont. Pelag.): "Angelos ad profectum conditos promerendae salutis aeternae, illa res indicat, quoniam si sic facti essent, ut ulterius nihil egerent, nulla pars eorum ullum posuisset defectum. Non enim in eis diversam naturam fuisse dicendum est."
Prob. min. ex Patribus. S. Augustinus (de correp. et grat. c. 10.) docet, sicut mali Angeli per liberum arbitrium beatitudinem amiserunt "ita sanctos Angelos per liberum arbitrium (adjutum gratia) stetisse, et hujus mansionis debitam mercedem meruisse. Tantam scilicet plenitudinem beatitudinis, qua illis certissimum sit semper se in illa esse mansuros." - S. Isidorus (l. 1. sent. c. 10.): "Post Angelorum ruinam hi qui permanserunt, firmitatem meruerunt aeternae perseverantiae et beatitudinis." - Gelasius (disput. cont. Pelag.): "Angelos ad profectum conditos promerendae salutis aeternae, illa res indicat, quoniam si sic facti essent, ut ulterius nihil egerent, nulla pars eorum ullum posuisset defectum. Non enim in eis diversam naturam fuisse dicendum est."
810. The good angels certainly had sanctifying grace before they attained beatitude. For no one can truly merit glory unless he is in the state of grace, as is handed down in the treatise on merit. But the good angels merited glory. Therefore.
The minor is proved from the Fathers. St. Augustine (On Rebuke and Grace, c. 10) teaches that just as the evil angels lost beatitude through free choice, "so the holy angels stood through free choice, aided by grace, and merited the due reward of this abiding, namely such a fullness of beatitude by which it would be most certain for them that they would always remain in it." - St. Isidore (book 1, Sentences, c. 10): "After the ruin of the angels, those who remained merited the firmness of eternal perseverance and beatitude." - Gelasius (Disputation against the Pelagians): "That matter indicates that the angels were made for advancement in meriting eternal salvation, since if they had been made in such a way that they needed nothing further, no part of them would have placed any defect. For it must not be said that there was a diverse nature in them."
The minor is proved from the Fathers. St. Augustine (On Rebuke and Grace, c. 10) teaches that just as the evil angels lost beatitude through free choice, "so the holy angels stood through free choice, aided by grace, and merited the due reward of this abiding, namely such a fullness of beatitude by which it would be most certain for them that they would always remain in it." - St. Isidore (book 1, Sentences, c. 10): "After the ruin of the angels, those who remained merited the firmness of eternal perseverance and beatitude." - Gelasius (Disputation against the Pelagians): "That matter indicates that the angels were made for advancement in meriting eternal salvation, since if they had been made in such a way that they needed nothing further, no part of them would have placed any defect. For it must not be said that there was a diverse nature in them."
811. Angeli omnes, seu etiam illi qui deinde defecerunt, fuerunt antea gratia sanctificante ornati. Quod ostenditur 1. Ex Scripturis. Ezech. 28. legitur: "Tu signaculum similitudinis, plenus sapientia et decore, in deliciis paradisi fuisti ... Tu Cherub extentus, et protegens, et posui te in monte sancto Dei ... Perfectus in viis tuis a die conditionis tuae, donec inventa est iniquitas in te." - Quae verba etsi litteraliter intelligantur de Rege Tyri; sensu tamen mystico, a Spiritu Sancto etiam intento, intelligenda sunt etiam de Angelis, qui gratiam a Deo acceptam, per peccatum amiserunt. Ita ex SS. Patrum interpretatione. Joan. 8. Dominus de diabolo dicit: "Ille in veritate non stetit." Quae verba etsi ab aliquibus recentioribus intelligantur de veracitate; ex doctrina tamen Patrum debent intelligi de sanctitate. Additur quidem "quia non est veritas in eo, cum loquitur mendacium, etc." Sed bene notat Maldonatus, quod diabolus non dicitur, non stetisse in veritate, quia prius veritatem dixerit, a qua postea recessit, nihil enim tale de illo legitur, sed qua prius in virtute veritatis stetit, quando innocens fuit, et cum veritate alias etiam virtutes incorruptas habuit. Quod maxime de virtutibus infusis, et gratia intelligendum est, quia sine gratia nulla est apud Deum vera virtus.
2. Ex Patribus. S. Leo M. (de quadrag. l. 10. c. 2.): "Quia ipse (diabolus) in veritate non stetit, totamque naturae suae gloriam, dum superbit, amisit, dolet hominem Dei misericordia reparari, et in bona, quae ipse perdidit, introduci." - S. Cyril. Alex. (in Jo. l. 9. c. 6.): "Quia prolapsus est a veritate, nec manere voluit in suae sanctitatis origine, factus enim fuerat ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei, sed superbiendo retinuit quidem imaginem, amisit tamen veritatem similitudinis, quia ex justo et bono Angelo diabolus injustus et malus factus est." - Unde Catechismus Romanus (P. 1. c. 2. q. 17.) docet: "Spiritualem naturam, innumerabilesque Angelos, qui Deo ministrarent, atque assisterent, ipse ex nihilo creavit, quos deinde admirabili gratiae suae et potestatis munere auxit, atque ornavit. Nam cum illud sit in divinis litteris diabolum in veritate non stetisse, perspicuum est, eum reliquosque desertores Angelos ab ortus sui initio gratia praeditos fuisse."
2. Ex Patribus. S. Leo M. (de quadrag. l. 10. c. 2.): "Quia ipse (diabolus) in veritate non stetit, totamque naturae suae gloriam, dum superbit, amisit, dolet hominem Dei misericordia reparari, et in bona, quae ipse perdidit, introduci." - S. Cyril. Alex. (in Jo. l. 9. c. 6.): "Quia prolapsus est a veritate, nec manere voluit in suae sanctitatis origine, factus enim fuerat ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei, sed superbiendo retinuit quidem imaginem, amisit tamen veritatem similitudinis, quia ex justo et bono Angelo diabolus injustus et malus factus est." - Unde Catechismus Romanus (P. 1. c. 2. q. 17.) docet: "Spiritualem naturam, innumerabilesque Angelos, qui Deo ministrarent, atque assisterent, ipse ex nihilo creavit, quos deinde admirabili gratiae suae et potestatis munere auxit, atque ornavit. Nam cum illud sit in divinis litteris diabolum in veritate non stetisse, perspicuum est, eum reliquosque desertores Angelos ab ortus sui initio gratia praeditos fuisse."
811. All the angels, or even those who afterward failed, were previously adorned with sanctifying grace. This is shown first from the Scriptures. Ezekiel 28 says: "You were the seal of likeness, full of wisdom and beauty; you were in the delights of paradise ... You were an extended and protecting Cherub, and I placed you on the holy mountain of God ... You were perfect in your ways from the day of your condition, until iniquity was found in you." - Although these words are understood literally of the King of Tyre, nevertheless, in the mystical sense also intended by the Holy Spirit, they must also be understood of the angels, who lost, through sin, the grace accepted from God. Thus from the interpretation of the holy Fathers. In John 8 the Lord says of the devil: "He did not stand in the truth." Although these words are understood by some more recent authors of veracity, nevertheless from the doctrine of the Fathers they must be understood of sanctity. Indeed it is added, "because there is no truth in him, when he speaks a lie," etc. But Maldonatus rightly notes that the devil is not said not to have stood in the truth because he first spoke truth, from which afterward he departed; for nothing of this kind is read about him. Rather, he had previously stood in the power of truth, when he was innocent, and with truth he also had other virtues incorrupt. This is especially to be understood of infused virtues and grace, because without grace there is no true virtue before God.
2. From the Fathers. St. Leo the Great (On Lent, book 10, c. 2): "Because he himself, the devil, did not stand in the truth, he lost the whole glory of his nature while he was proud, and he grieves that man is repaired by the mercy of God and introduced into the goods which he himself lost." - St. Cyril of Alexandria (on John, book 9, c. 6): "Because he fell away from the truth, and did not wish to remain in the origin of his sanctity; for he had been made to the image and likeness of God, but by being proud he indeed retained the image, yet lost the truth of likeness, because from a just and good angel the devil became unjust and evil." - Hence the Roman Catechism (Part 1, c. 2, q. 17) teaches: "He himself created from nothing the spiritual nature, and innumerable angels, who would minister to God and stand before him; afterward he increased and adorned them by the admirable gift of his grace and power. For since it is in the divine writings that the devil did not stand in the truth, it is clear that he and the other deserter angels were endowed with grace from the beginning of their origin."
2. From the Fathers. St. Leo the Great (On Lent, book 10, c. 2): "Because he himself, the devil, did not stand in the truth, he lost the whole glory of his nature while he was proud, and he grieves that man is repaired by the mercy of God and introduced into the goods which he himself lost." - St. Cyril of Alexandria (on John, book 9, c. 6): "Because he fell away from the truth, and did not wish to remain in the origin of his sanctity; for he had been made to the image and likeness of God, but by being proud he indeed retained the image, yet lost the truth of likeness, because from a just and good angel the devil became unjust and evil." - Hence the Roman Catechism (Part 1, c. 2, q. 17) teaches: "He himself created from nothing the spiritual nature, and innumerable angels, who would minister to God and stand before him; afterward he increased and adorned them by the admirable gift of his grace and power. For since it is in the divine writings that the devil did not stand in the truth, it is clear that he and the other deserter angels were endowed with grace from the beginning of their origin."
812. Si vero quaeratur, quandonam Angeli gratiam receperunt; licet ad fidem non pertineat, doctrina jam in Scholis communis est eos in primo creationis instanti gratiam habuisse. Quod tradunt 1. communius Patres. Ita, ex. gr., S. Basilius (in Ps. 32. 4.): "Quod Angeli sunt, ab opifice Verbo universorum conditore habent; eis vero sanctitatem Spiritus sanctus impertivit;" et iterum "in prima constitutione, ac velut massa substantiae eorum una insitam habuere sanctitatem." - S. Augustinus (de civ. Dei, l. 12. c. 9.): "Bonam voluntatem quis fecit in Angelis, nisi ille qui eos cum bona voluntate, idest cum amore casto, quo illi adhaererent, creavit, simul in eis et condens naturam, et largens gratiam, unde sine bona voluntate, hoc est Dei amore, numquam sanctos Angelos fuisse credendum est."
2. Ratione autem suaderi potest. Nam Deus a principio condidit Angelos omnes ad finem supernaturalem, et sub convenientissima providentia ad consequendum illum: sed optima providentia postulabat, ut eos conderet in eo statu, cui supernaturalis gloria deberetur, quae est status gratiae, ac filiorum Dei. Nec fuit ulla ratio differendi gratiam, cum angeli, (ut ait Basilius) non fuerint creati infantes, id est, non indigeant temporis decursu, ad sanctificationem, et illuminationem recipiendam, ergo credibilius est Deum non distulisse Angelorum sanctificationem. - Vid. de his omnibus D. Thomam 1. p. q. 62.; Suarez (de Angelis l. 5. cc. 1-4.)
2. Ratione autem suaderi potest. Nam Deus a principio condidit Angelos omnes ad finem supernaturalem, et sub convenientissima providentia ad consequendum illum: sed optima providentia postulabat, ut eos conderet in eo statu, cui supernaturalis gloria deberetur, quae est status gratiae, ac filiorum Dei. Nec fuit ulla ratio differendi gratiam, cum angeli, (ut ait Basilius) non fuerint creati infantes, id est, non indigeant temporis decursu, ad sanctificationem, et illuminationem recipiendam, ergo credibilius est Deum non distulisse Angelorum sanctificationem. - Vid. de his omnibus D. Thomam 1. p. q. 62.; Suarez (de Angelis l. 5. cc. 1-4.)
812. But if it is asked when the angels received grace, although it does not pertain to faith, the doctrine now common in the Schools is that they had grace in the first instant of creation. This, first, the Fathers more commonly hand down. Thus, for example, St. Basil (on Psalm 32:4): "That they are angels, they have from the craftsman Word, the creator of all things; but the Holy Spirit imparted sanctity to them"; and again, "in the first constitution, and as it were in the very mass of their substance, they had sanctity implanted together." - St. Augustine (City of God, book 12, c. 9): "Who made the good will in the angels, except he who created them with a good will, that is, with chaste love by which they would adhere to him, at the same time both founding nature in them and bestowing grace; whence it must be believed that the holy angels were never without good will, that is, the love of God."
2. It can also be argued by reason. For from the beginning God established all angels for a supernatural end and under a most fitting providence for attaining it. But the best providence required that he establish them in that state to which supernatural glory would be due, which is the state of grace and of the sons of God. Nor was there any reason for delaying grace, since the angels, as Basil says, were not created infants; that is, they did not need the passage of time for receiving sanctification and illumination. Therefore it is more credible that God did not delay the sanctification of the angels. - See on all these matters St. Thomas I, q. 62; Suarez (On Angels, book 5, chapters 1-4).
2. It can also be argued by reason. For from the beginning God established all angels for a supernatural end and under a most fitting providence for attaining it. But the best providence required that he establish them in that state to which supernatural glory would be due, which is the state of grace and of the sons of God. Nor was there any reason for delaying grace, since the angels, as Basil says, were not created infants; that is, they did not need the passage of time for receiving sanctification and illumination. Therefore it is more credible that God did not delay the sanctification of the angels. - See on all these matters St. Thomas I, q. 62; Suarez (On Angels, book 5, chapters 1-4).