Dist. 20, Part 2, Art. 1, Q. 2
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 20
Quaestio II. Utrum possit fieri satisfactionis relaxatio.
Secundo quaeritur, utrum possit fieri satisfactionis relaxatio. Et quod sic, videtur:
1. Quia universalis Ecclesia has relaxationes acceptat; sed constat, quod ipsa non errat: ergo vere fiunt. Probatio minoris: ita dictum est Petro Lucae vigesimo secundo1: Ego pro te rogavi, Petre, ut non deficiat fides tua; constat, quod hoc dictum est Petro in persona Ecclesiae; sed Christus exauditus est in omnibus pro sua reverentia: ergo et in isto. Et si hoc, Ecclesia universalis non decipitur nec errat.
2. Item, secundae ad Corinthios secundo2: Nam et ego, si quid vobis donavi, in persona Christi; Glossa: « Ac si Christus condonasset »; sed si Christus vere condonat, vere est condonatum: ergo quod donavit Apostolus vere condonatum et relaxatum fuit. Sed non est minoris potestatis Summus Pontifex quam Paulus: ergo etc.
3. Item, Augustinus in libro de Poenitentia3: « Credendum est, quod omnes orationes Ecclesiae et eleemosynae et opera iustitiae succurrant recognoscenti mortem suam ad conversionem »: si ergo opera Ecclesiae valent, ergo bona satisfactoria, quae sunt in ecclesiastica unitate, valent ad satisfaciendum: ergo videtur, quod ille ad quem spectat haec distribuere, possit peccatores iuvare et ita satisfactionem minuere ac per hoc condonare et relaxare.
4. Item, Christus condonavit multis non solum culpam, sed etiam poenam, ut patet in muliere adultera4; sed Deus plenitudinem potestatis reliquit in Ecclesia: ergo et potestatem relaxandi et condonandi.
Contra: 1. Isaiae quadragesimo5: Dimissa est iniquitas illius, suscepit de manu Domini duplicia: ergo videtur, quod poena ad perfectam remissionem sit duplicanda, non relaxanda.
2. Item, super illud secundae ad Timotheum secundo6: Negare se ipsum non potest; Glossa: « Quod faceret, si dicta sua non impleret »: ergo necesse est, quod Dominus dicta sua impleat; sed ipse praedixit Deuteronomii vigesimo quinto: Secundum mensuram delicti erit et plagarum modus: ergo necesse est ita puniri, sicut et peccator meruit: ergo non potest aliquid relaxari.
3. Item, ratione videtur: Facere dignos fructus poenitentiae est in divino praecepto7, a quo
non potest quisquam homo purus absolvere; sed dignos fructus facere est secundum magnitudinem sceleris magnifice satisfacere: ergo videtur, quod non licet alicui de Ecclesia de illo minuere: ergo nec relaxationem aliquam facere vel percipere.
4. Item, inferior non potest absolvere a poena, ad quam ligat superior; sed Deus, remittendo culpam, ligat ad aliquotam poenam temporalem: ergo videtur, quod nullus homo possit de illa aliquid dimittere: ergo etc.
Conclusio
Poenae relaxatio fieri potest, quae valet non solum in foro Ecclesiae, sed etiam in foro Dei.
Respondeo: Dicendum, quod relaxationes fiunt et fieri possunt, sed qualiter possint fieri, diversimode nobis insinuant diversi.
1. Quidam enim, distinguentes forum Dei et forum Ecclesiae, dixerunt, huiusmodi relaxationes non fieri nec intelligi quantum ad forum Dei, sed quantum ad forum Ecclesiae. Hoc autem sic intelligunt. Sacri canones pro mortalibus peccatis graves et diuturnas poenitentias taxant, ut pro uno mortali septennium vel amplius, secundum quod8 gravius est; quae poena adeo gravis est, quod vix aut nunquam posset quis facere, et pauci invenirentur, qui vellent. Ideo constituerunt rectores Ecclesiae, poenitentias secundum arbitrium imponi, et de residuo relaxationes constituerunt fieri; quod et facere potuerunt, quoniam constitutio humana erat, et in humana constitutione potest homo dispensare et temperare; quae dispensatio quaedam relaxatio non indebite appellatur. — Sed tamen ista opinio, etsi relaxationes videatur ponere, verius interimit; quia, si relaxant9, ita quod Deus non relaxat, potius deceptio quam relaxatio vera iudicanda est, et potius crudelitas quam pietas dici potest, dum minuendo hic poenitentiam, in futuro ad graviora trahit supplicia.
Ideo aliter dicendum, quod relaxatio illa non solum valet in foro Ecclesiae, verum etiam in foro Dei, quia Deus habet pro condonato quod sic condonatur. — Modus autem intelligendi, qualiter fieri possit, talis est. Praesupponendum est, quod bonum obtinemus ex triplici merito, scilicet ex merito proprio et ex merito capitis et ex merito ecclesiasticae unitatis. Et quod ita sit, in se manifestum est: quia quilibet meretur sibi per gratiam, quam habet; quod Christus meruerit nobis, nemo dubitat, nisi qui fide caret; quod Ecclesia mereatur nobis, et eius merita, patet per verbum Augustini praedictum10 et per illud quod ipse subiungit: « Nemo potest digne poenitere, quem non sustineat unitas Ecclesiae ». Verbum istud est verbum Augustini in libro de Poenitentia.
Per hunc modum, sicut meritum obtinendi bonum est triplex, sic meritum liberandi a malo: meritum scilicet proprium, et hoc est meritum nostrae contritionis; et per hoc meremur liberari a poena aeterna, ita quod simul sunt haec duo, sicut in Angelis gratia et gloria11. — Secundo modo meritum Christi, et hoc operatur in Sacramentis et potestate clavium; et per hoc remittitur pars poenae. — Tertio modo est meritum unitatis ecclesiasticae, et per illud adhuc fit remissio. Et sic secundum triplex meritum triplex fit poenae condonatio, ut sic currat misericordia cum iustitia; et in qualibet est commutatio maioris in minus. Unde poena aeterna primo mutatur in temporalem in remissione culpae; secundo temporalis magna et supra vires in poenam competentem viribus commutatur in sacerdotis absolutione; tertio vero commutatur poena, ad quam tenetur iudicio Ecclesiae, adhuc in minorem in relaxatione, et pro alio residuo merita Ecclesiae satisfaciunt, ita quod in nullo praeiudicatur iustitiae.
1. 2. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur, quod duplicatur poena, et quod iuxta mensuram delicti debet esse et plagarum modus: dicendum, quod — sicut tactum fuit supra12, quando agebatur de baptismo, quod peccatum nostrum satis punitum fuit, quando Christus pro nobis poenam subiit et suam pro nobis poenam exposuit et nostram fecit — nos sufficienter iudicamur puniri sive quantum ad duplicitatem13 in anima et in carne, sive quantum ad mensuram acerbitatis poenae; similiter intelligendum in proposito, quod poenalitates, quae sunt in Ecclesia et quae sunt supererogationis, pro eo cui fit relaxatio, subveniunt, ut Deus reputet sibi satisfactum.
3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod tenetur ad faciendum dignos fructus poenitentiae; dicendum, quod facere dignos fructus poenitentiae est dupliciter, scilicet vere et interpretative. Et ille dicitur dignos fructus poenitentiae facere, qui non solum per se ipsum, sed etiam per suffragium alienum habet sufficiens pretium ad solvendum debitum14.
4. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod inferior non absolvit ab eo, ad quod ligat superior; dicendum, quod non absolvit omnino condonando, sed pro eo solvendo de ecclesiastico thesauro. — Vel potest dici, quod inferior potest absolvere ab eo, ad quod ligat superior, si ad hoc data est sibi auctoritas a superiori, sicut patet; et talis auctoritas a Christo data est rectoribus Ecclesiae15.
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Question II. Whether a relaxation of satisfaction can be made.
Secondly it is asked whether a relaxation of satisfaction can be made. And that it can, seems [shown]:
1. Because the universal Church accepts these relaxations; but it is established that she does not err: therefore they are truly made. Proof of the minor: thus it was said to Peter in Luke twenty-two1: I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not; it is established that this was said to Peter in the person of the Church; but Christ was heard in all things on account of his reverence: therefore also in this. And if so, the universal Church is not deceived nor errs.
2. Likewise, in second Corinthians chapter two2: For if I have pardoned anything to you, [I have done it] in the person of Christ; the Gloss: « As if Christ had pardoned it »; but if Christ truly pardons, it is truly pardoned: therefore what the Apostle pardoned was truly pardoned and relaxed. But the Supreme Pontiff is not of lesser power than Paul: therefore etc.
3. Likewise, Augustine in the book On Penitence3: « It is to be believed that all the prayers of the Church and the almsdeeds and works of justice come to the aid of one who acknowledges his death unto conversion »: if therefore the works of the Church avail, then satisfactory goods, which are in the ecclesiastical unity, avail toward satisfying: therefore it seems that he to whom it pertains to distribute these can aid sinners and so diminish satisfaction and thereby pardon and relax.
4. Likewise, Christ pardoned to many not only the fault, but also the punishment, as is evident in the adulterous woman4; but God left the plenitude of power in the Church: therefore also the power of relaxing and pardoning.
On the contrary: 1. Isaiah forty5: Her iniquity is forgiven, she hath received of the Lord's hand double: therefore it seems that the punishment, unto perfect remission, must be doubled, not relaxed.
2. Likewise, upon that text of second Timothy chapter two6: He cannot deny himself; the Gloss: « Which he would do, if he did not fulfill his words »: therefore it is necessary that the Lord fulfill his words; but he himself foretold in Deuteronomy twenty-five: According to the measure of the sin shall the manner of the stripes be: therefore it is necessary to be punished just as the sinner deserved: therefore nothing can be relaxed.
3. Likewise, by reason it seems: To bring forth worthy fruits of penance is in a divine precept7, from which
no mere man can absolve; but to bring forth worthy fruits is, according to the magnitude of the crime, to make satisfaction magnificently: therefore it seems that it is not permitted to anyone of the Church to diminish anything of it: therefore neither to make nor to receive any relaxation.
4. Likewise, an inferior cannot absolve from a punishment to which a superior binds; but God, in remitting the fault, binds to a certain temporal punishment: therefore it seems that no man can remit anything of it: therefore etc.
Conclusion
A relaxation of punishment can be made, which avails not only in the forum of the Church, but also in the forum of God.
I respond: It must be said that relaxations are made and can be made, but in what manner they can be made, various [authors] suggest to us in various ways.
1. For some, distinguishing the forum of God and the forum of the Church, have said that relaxations of this kind are not made nor understood with respect to the forum of God, but with respect to the forum of the Church. And this they understand thus. The sacred canons assess grave and long penances for mortal sins, as for one mortal sin seven years or more, according as8 it is graver; which punishment is so grave that scarcely or never could anyone perform it, and few would be found who would be willing. Therefore the rectors of the Church established that penances be imposed according to discretion, and they established that relaxations be made of the remainder; which they were also able to do, since it was a human constitution, and in a human constitution a man can dispense and temper; which dispensation is not unfittingly called a kind of relaxation. — But nevertheless this opinion, although it seems to posit relaxations, more truly does away with them; because, if they relax9 in such a way that God does not relax, it is rather to be judged a deception than a true relaxation, and it can be called rather cruelty than piety, while by diminishing penance here it draws [one] in the future to graver torments.
Therefore it must be said otherwise, that that relaxation avails not only in the forum of the Church, but also in the forum of God, because God holds as pardoned what is thus pardoned. — Now the manner of understanding how it can be made is this. It must be presupposed that we obtain the good from a threefold merit, namely from proper merit and from the merit of the head and from the merit of ecclesiastical unity. And that this is so, is manifest in itself: because each one merits for himself by the grace which he has; that Christ merited for us, no one doubts, except one who lacks faith; that the Church merits for us, and her merits [do so], is evident through the aforesaid word of Augustine10 and through that which he himself subjoins: « No one can worthily do penance whom the unity of the Church does not sustain ». That word is the word of Augustine in the book On Penitence.
In this way, just as the merit of obtaining the good is threefold, so [is] the merit of being freed from evil: namely proper merit, and this is the merit of our contrition; and through this we merit to be freed from eternal punishment, so that these two are together, as in the Angels grace and glory11. — In the second mode, the merit of Christ, and this works in the Sacraments and the power of the keys; and through this part of the punishment is remitted. — In the third mode there is the merit of ecclesiastical unity, and through it remission is still made. And so according to the threefold merit a threefold pardon of punishment is made, so that thus mercy runs together with justice; and in each there is a commutation of the greater into the less. Hence eternal punishment is first changed into temporal in the remission of the fault; secondly the temporal [punishment], great and beyond [one's] strength, is commuted into a punishment fitting to [one's] strength in the priest's absolution; thirdly indeed the punishment, to which one is held by the judgment of the Church, is commuted still into a lesser one in relaxation, and for the other remainder the merits of the Church make satisfaction, so that in nothing is justice prejudiced.
1. 2. To that, then, which is objected, that the punishment is doubled, and that according to the measure of the offense ought also to be the manner of the stripes: it must be said that — as was touched upon above12, when treatment was made of baptism, that our sin was sufficiently punished, when Christ underwent the punishment for us and set forth his punishment for us and made it ours — we are judged to be sufficiently punished, whether as to the doubleness13 in soul and in flesh, or as to the measure of the bitterness of the punishment; similarly it is to be understood in the matter at hand, that the penalties which are in the Church and which are of supererogation, come to the aid of him for whom the relaxation is made, so that God may reckon satisfaction as made to himself.
3. To that which is objected, that one is held to bringing forth worthy fruits of penance; it must be said that to bring forth worthy fruits of penance is twofold, namely truly and interpretatively. And he is said to bring forth worthy fruits of penance who has, not only through his very self, but also through another's suffrage, a sufficient price to pay the debt14.
4. To that which is objected, that an inferior does not absolve from that to which a superior binds; it must be said that he does not absolve by pardoning altogether, but by paying for him out of the ecclesiastical treasury. — Or it can be said that an inferior can absolve from that to which a superior binds, if authority for this has been given to him by the superior, as is evident; and such authority was given by Christ to the rectors of the Church15.
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- 1Vers. 32. — Secundus locus est Hebr. 5, 7, ubi Vulgata omittit in omnibus.Verse 32 [Luke 22]. — The second passage is Hebrews 5:7, where the Vulgate omits in all things.
- 2Vers. 10: Nam et ego quod donavi, si quid donavi, propter vos in persona Christi. — Glossam exhibet Lombard. (et Lyranus ut interlinearem) quae est secundum Comment. olim Ambrosio tributum.Verse 10: For what I have pardoned, if I have pardoned anything, [I have done it] for your sake in the person of Christ. — The Gloss is given by Lombard (and Lyranus as interlinear), which is according to the Commentary formerly attributed to Ambrose.
- 3Sive de Vera et falsa Poenitentia, c. 12, n. 27. Cfr. supra lit. Magistri, d. XVII, c. 4. — Inferius pro bona codd. I K aa opera.Or On True and False Penitence, c. 12, n. 27. Cf. above, the text of the Master, d. XVII, c. 4. — Below, for bona [good things], codices I K aa [read] opera [works].
- 4Cfr. Ioan. 8, 11.Cf. John 8:11.
- 5Vers. 2, ubi Vulgata in fine addit pro omnibus peccatis suis.Verse 2 [Isaiah 40], where the Vulgate at the end adds for all her sins.
- 6Vers. 13. — De Glossa, quae est Petri Lombardi et Lyrani (ut interlinearis), et in qua permulti codd. et edd. perperam Quid pro Quod, cfr. Comment. in hunc loc., quod habetur inter opera Hieron. — Seq. textus est Deut. 25, 2: Pro mensura peccati erit etc.Verse 13 [2 Timothy 2]. — Concerning the Gloss, which is of Peter Lombard and Lyranus (as interlinear), and in which very many codices and editions wrongly [read] Quid for Quod, cf. the Commentary on this passage, which is found among the works of Jerome. — The following text is Deuteronomy 25:2: According to the measure of the sin etc.
- 7Luc. 3, 8: Facite ergo fructus dignos poenitentiae. Cfr. Matth. 3, 8. et 4, 17, de quibus supra d. 16, p. I, dub. 5, 6, 14.Luke 3:8: Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of penance. Cf. Matthew 3:8 and 4:17, concerning which [see] above, d. 16, p. I, dub. 5, 6, 14.
- 8Codd. I K amplius pro peccato, quod.Codices I K [read] amplius pro peccato, quod [more, for a sin which].
- 9Cod. X supplet rectores. — Secundum Alex. Hal., S. p. IV, q. 23, m. 2, relaxatio proprie dicta est poenitentiae iniunctae pro peccatis ex virtute clavium diminutio, imposita poena eiusdem generis (scil. temporalis).Codex X supplies rectores [the rectors]. — According to Alexander of Hales, Summa p. IV, q. 23, m. 2, a relaxation properly so called is a diminution, by virtue of the keys, of penance enjoined for sins, a punishment of the same kind (namely temporal) having been imposed.
- 10Hic in fundam. 3. Loc. ibi cit. habetur etiam seq. sententia. — Inferius edd. cum pluribus codd. male omittunt bonum.Here in fundamentum 3. In the passage there cited the following sentence is also found. — Below, the editions with several codices wrongly omit bonum [the good].
- 11Vide II. Sent. d. 5, a. 3, q. 2.See II Sentences, d. 5, a. 3, q. 2.
- 12Dist. 1, p. I, a. 1, q. 2.Distinction 1, p. I, a. 1, q. 2.
- 13Edd. cum aliquot codd. duplicem, cui cod. X subnectit partem (Cfr. supra d. 15, p. I, dub. 1). Pro exponit et fecit multi codd. exponit et facit. Inferius pro supererogationis codd. communissime legunt supererogationes, cod. F supererogantes.The editions with some codices [read] duplicem, to which codex X subjoins partem (cf. above, d. 15, p. I, dub. 1). For exponit et fecit [sets forth and made] many codices [read] exponit et facit [sets forth and makes]. Below, for supererogationis the codices very commonly read supererogationes, codex F supererogantes.
- 14De Regul. iuris in VI., regul. 72: Qui facit per alium est perinde, ac si faciat per se ipsum.On the Rules of Law in [the Sext], rule 72: He who acts through another is just as if he acted through his very self.
- 15Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.See the scholion to the preceding question. ---