Dist. 26, Art. 2, Q. 2
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 26
Quaestio II. Quid sit in hoc Sacramento causans, et quid causatum.
Secundo quaeritur, quid sit in hoc Sacramento causans, et quid causatum. Et quod aliquid efficiat, probatur:
1. Quia, ut dicit Augustinus, et habetur in littera1, quod «sanis erat ad officium aegris est ad remedium»; sed quod nullam habet efficaciam non praestat remedium: ergo si matrimonium praestat remedium, aliquid efficit.
2. Item, si est Sacramentum novae legis: ergo efficit quod figurat2.
3. Item, matrimonium est magnum Sacramentum3 in nova lege, ergo non tantum repraesentationem, sed etiam institutionem et sanctificationem continet; sed Sacramentum sanctificans donat gratiam: ergo etc.
4. Item, sicut Sacramentum repraesentat ex similitudine, ita figurat ex institutione, et ita sanctificat ex benedictione; sed in nova lege est benedictio nuptiarum: ergo videtur, quod sit sanctificatio: sic etc.4
Contra: 1. Si Sacramentum aliquid efficit, efficit quod figurat; sed istud significat coniunctionem Christi et Ecclesiae5, et hanc non efficit: ergo nec aliquid aliud.
2. Item, Sacramentum, quod dat gratiam et habet efficaciam, ab omnibus debet accipi, qui habent morbum; sed omnes habent morbum concupiscentiae: ergo omnes debent nubere. Sed bonum est homini non nubere6: ergo non dat gratiam.
3. Item, si dat gratiam; quaero: quam? Si coniungit animam Deo et desponsat, vel unit etiam membra ad invicem; cum animam fieri sponsam Christi, et membra uniri7 sit effectus baptismi et eucharistiae, videtur, illud Sacramentum superfluere.
4. Item, Sacramentum, quod dat gratiam, si vendatur, vel sub pacto pecuniae accipiatur, facit intervenire simoniam: ergo qui aliquam duceret uxorem cum pacto pecuniae esset simoniacus; quod falsum est.
Conclusio. Matrimonium in nova lege non tantum praestat remedium, sed etiam aliquod donum gratiae.
Respondeo: Ad hoc voluerunt aliqui dicere, quod illud Sacramentum nullam dat gratiam; et quod dicitur, quod Sacramenta novae legis dant gratiam, dicunt intelligi de his quae in nova lege sunt instituta; nec est hoc Sacramentum remedium per efficaciam, sed per indulgentiam. Et inde est, quod concupiscentiam non minuit simpliciter sive secundum habitum, minuit tamen secundum indulgentiam et secundum actum, ut non urat, secundum quod dicitur primae ad Corinthios septimo8, quod melius est nubere quam uri.
Alii dicunt, quod in Sacramento matrimonii datur gratia digne et devote suscipientibus ratione benedictionis superadditae; Deus enim eis benedicit ad benedictionem sacerdotis. — Sed haec positio non videtur valere, quia illa benedictio est sacramentalis; et si sacramentale efficit, quanto magis Sacramentum!
Et ideo tertio modo dicendum, quod suscipientibus hoc Sacramentum detur remedium, quod est de ratione Sacramenti, quod excusat coitum et facit illud esse veniale, sive non esse peccatum, quod alias esset peccatum9; et hoc potest esse sine dono gratiae, et habuit hoc illud Sacramentum statim post lapsum. Sed nunc tempore legis novae non tantum praestat illud remedium, sed etiam aliquod gratiae donum digne suscipientibus, utpote his qui ex caritatis consensu uniuntur ad procreandum prolem ad divinum cultum.
Ratione enim expressionis consensus in individuam consuetudinem vitae10, et ratione benedictionis Ecclesiae, cuius est Sacramenta debite tractare, sublevatur anima a corruptione concupiscentiae inordinata, et datur gratia ad copulam singularem et ad copulam utilem et ad copulam inseparabilem. Ex hac gratia fit remedium contra triplicem inordinationem concupiscentiae, et nascitur triplex bonum matrimonii. Concupiscentia enim inclinat ad multas, quia luxuriosus non est una contentus; et in matrimonio datur gratia homini, ut soli uxori velit coniungi, et ita pronitas ad multas excluditur per copulam singularem. — Concupiscentia etiam inclinat ad delectationem, non ad utilitatem, quia luxuriosus non quaerit nisi satisfacere appetitui; et in matrimonio datur gratia, ut non cognoscat uxorem nisi propter prolem, et ita excluditur11 per copulam utilem. — Item, concupiscentia fastidium generat post impletionem; unde luxuriosus, postquam cognovit unam, illam respuit et vadit ad aliam; in matrimonio vero datur gratia, ut semper velit esse cum una, et ita excluditur12 per copulam inseparabilem. — Ex copula singulari oritur bonum fidei, ut ad aliam non accedat; ex copula utili bonum prolis; ex copula inseparabili bonum Sacramenti.
1. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur, quomodo efficit quod figurat; dicendum, quod figurat coniunctionem animorum primo et hanc efficit, non primo uniendo, sed magis, sicut confessio contritionem; et hoc iterum quodam modo efficit coniunctionem cum Deo; quia, si membrum membro magis unitur, per consequens etiam magis unitur Christo. Sed in eucharistia13, dum membra magis uniuntur Christo, et per consequens magis uniuntur ad invicem, unde Christo incorporantur; et sic patet differentia.
2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod tunc omnes deberent accipere uxores; dicendum, quod in matrimonio datur gratia ad remedium, sed in voto
disponitur anima, ut gratia detur ad perfectius remedium. Unde quia perfectius minus perfecto est praeponendum, ideo non omnes debent nubere, sed melius faciunt qui vovent continentiam. Sed quia non omnes capiunt verbum istud14, ideo utrumque est necessarium, et remedium voti et religionis et remedium matrimonialis coniunctionis.
3. Ad aliud patet responsio; quoniam in hoc Sacramento non fit desponsatio, sed figuratur ipsa desponsatio, quae est Dei ad animam; sed desponsatio, quae fit et figuratur, est desponsatio viri et mulieris; ubi per consequens datur aliqua gratia ad efficaciorem desponsationem et unionem ipsius animae15; hoc tamen est ex consequenti.
4. Ad illud quod obiicitur ultimo de simonia, dicendum, quod matrimonium accipit rationem spiritualitatis et gratiae, quando consensus iungitur benedictioni, ubi explicatur significatio, et obtinetur per benedictionem sanctificatio; et ideo in benedictione sacerdotali consistit ratio spiritualis praecipue. Nam matrimonium habet aliquid de contractu voluntario et annexum temporale ut temporale. Et ideo, si quis venderet benedictionem, esset simoniacus16; qui autem consentit finaliter propter pecuniam, quamvis peccet, non tamen iudicatur simoniacus, maxime quia ipse non est Sacramenti dispensator. — Et praeterea, multa temporalia sunt adiuncta, ut mutua educatio et filiorum enutritio et alia plura, et ideo licet dotes accipere; et si quis cum pactione magnae dotis consentiat, simoniacus non est17 — istud Sacramentum, etsi aliquo modo cum aliis conveniat in praestando remedium, habet tamen carnale officium coniunctum, ratione cuius in pactione non cadit vitium simoniacum, etiam si alias detur — cadit tamen in peccatum, quia contra gratiam disponitur. — Haec autem potuit esse ratio, quae movit illos qui dixerunt, gratiam in hoc non dari. Sed qui recte vult respicere et iudicare, necesse habet pretiosum a vili separare18, ratione quorum diversa huic Sacramento contingit attribuere; et sacri canones hoc innuunt, in quibus ab antiquo statutum fuit, ut vir cum uxore in primo die benedictionis carnaliter non conveniret ob reverentiam illius benedictionis Ecclesiae, quae, etsi videatur annexa Sacramento, utique fit in quantum signum; in quantum tamen habet efficaciam et est ecclesiasticum, spectat ad eius esse completum. Et sic patet totum.
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Question II. What in this Sacrament is causing, and what is caused.
Secondly it is asked, what in this Sacrament is causing and what is caused. And that it effects something is proved:
1. Because, as Augustine says, and as is had in the text1, that "what for the healthy was for duty, for the sick is for a remedy"; but what has no efficacy does not afford a remedy: therefore if marriage affords a remedy, it effects something.
2. Likewise, if it is a Sacrament of the new law: therefore it effects what it figures2.
3. Likewise, marriage is a great Sacrament3 in the new law, therefore it contains not only representation, but also institution and sanctification; but a sanctifying Sacrament bestows grace: therefore etc.
4. Likewise, just as a Sacrament represents by likeness, so it figures by institution, and thus it sanctifies by blessing; but in the new law there is a blessing of nuptials: therefore it seems that there is sanctification: thus etc.4
On the contrary: 1. If a Sacrament effects something, it effects what it figures; but this signifies the conjunction of Christ and the Church5, and this it does not effect: therefore neither anything else.
2. Likewise, a Sacrament which gives grace and has efficacy ought to be received by all who have the disease; but all have the disease of concupiscence: therefore all ought to marry. But it is good for a man not to marry6: therefore it does not give grace.
3. Likewise, if it gives grace, I ask: which? If it joins the soul to God and betroths [it], or also unites the members to one another; since for the soul to be made the bride of Christ, and the members to be united7, is the effect of baptism and the eucharist, it seems that that Sacrament is superfluous.
4. Likewise, a Sacrament which gives grace, if it be sold, or received under a pact of money, causes simony to intervene: therefore whoever would take a wife with a pact of money would be a simoniac; which is false.
Conclusion. Marriage in the new law affords not only a remedy, but also some gift of grace.
I respond: To this some have wished to say that that Sacrament gives no grace; and as for what is said, that the Sacraments of the new law give grace, they say it is to be understood of those which were instituted in the new law; nor is this Sacrament a remedy through efficacy, but through indulgence. And hence it is that it does not diminish concupiscence simply or according to habit, yet it diminishes [it] according to indulgence and according to act, so that it does not burn, according to what is said in the first [letter] to the Corinthians, chapter seven8, that it is better to marry than to burn.
Others say that in the Sacrament of marriage grace is given to those who receive worthily and devoutly by reason of a superadded blessing; for God blesses them at the blessing of the priest. — But this position does not seem to hold, because that blessing is sacramental; and if a sacramental effects [grace], how much more a Sacrament!
And therefore it must be said in a third way, that to those receiving this Sacrament a remedy is given, which belongs to the nature of the Sacrament, which excuses coitus and makes it to be venial, or not to be a sin, which otherwise would be a sin9; and this can be without a gift of grace, and this Sacrament had this immediately after the fall. But now, in the time of the new law, it not only affords that remedy, but also some gift of grace to those who receive worthily, namely to those who from the consent of charity are united to procreate offspring for the divine worship.
For by reason of the expression of consent unto an individual [shared] mode of life10, and by reason of the blessing of the Church, whose it is to handle the Sacraments duly, the soul is lifted up from the corruption of disordered concupiscence, and grace is given for the singular union and for the useful union and for the inseparable union. From this grace there arises a remedy against the threefold disorder of concupiscence, and there is born the threefold good of marriage. For concupiscence inclines toward many [women], because the lustful man is not content with one; and in marriage grace is given to a man, that he may wish to be joined to his wife alone, and thus proneness toward many is excluded through the singular union. — Concupiscence also inclines toward pleasure, not toward usefulness, because the lustful man seeks only to satisfy the appetite; and in marriage grace is given, that he may not know his wife except for the sake of offspring, and thus it is excluded11 through the useful union. — Likewise, concupiscence generates loathing after satisfaction; whence the lustful man, after he has known one, spurns her and goes to another; but in marriage grace is given, that he may always wish to be with one, and thus it is excluded12 through the inseparable union. — From the singular union arises the good of fidelity, that he may not go to another; from the useful union the good of offspring; from the inseparable union the good of the Sacrament.
1. To that, therefore, which is objected, how it effects what it figures; it must be said that it figures the conjunction of souls first and effects this, not by first uniting, but rather as confession [effects] contrition; and this again in a certain way effects a conjunction with God; because, if member is more united to member, consequently it is also more united to Christ. But in the eucharist13, while the members are more united to Christ, and consequently are more united to one another, whence they are incorporated into Christ; and thus the difference is apparent.
2. To that which is objected, that then all ought to take wives; it must be said that in marriage grace is given for a remedy, but in the vow
the soul is disposed, that grace may be given for a more perfect remedy. Whence, since the more perfect is to be preferred to the less perfect, therefore not all ought to marry, but they do better who vow continence. But because not all receive this word14, therefore both are necessary, both the remedy of the vow and of religion and the remedy of the matrimonial conjunction.
3. To the other the answer is apparent; since in this Sacrament there is not made a betrothal, but the betrothal itself is figured, which is [the betrothal] of God to the soul; but the betrothal which is made and figured is the betrothal of man and woman; whereby consequently some grace is given for a more efficacious betrothal and union of the soul itself15; yet this is by consequence.
4. To that which is objected lastly concerning simony, it must be said that marriage takes on the character of spirituality and grace, when the consent is joined to the blessing, where the signification is unfolded, and sanctification is obtained through the blessing; and therefore in the priestly blessing consists the spiritual character especially. For marriage has something of a voluntary contract, and something temporal annexed as temporal. And therefore, if someone were to sell the blessing, he would be a simoniac16; but he who consents finally for the sake of money, although he sins, is nevertheless not judged a simoniac, especially because he himself is not the dispenser of the Sacrament. — And besides, many temporal things are annexed, such as mutual upbringing and the nurturing of children and many other things, and therefore it is licit to receive dowries; and if someone consents with a pact of a great dowry, he is not a simoniac17 — this Sacrament, although in some way it agrees with the others in affording a remedy, nevertheless has a carnal office conjoined [to it], by reason of which no simoniacal vice falls in the pact, even if it be given otherwise — yet it falls into sin, because it is disposed against grace. — This, moreover, could have been the reason which moved those who said that grace is not given herein. But he who wishes rightly to look and to judge must needs separate the precious from the vile18, by reason of which it befalls to attribute diverse things to this Sacrament; and the sacred canons intimate this, in which it was of old established, that a man should not come together carnally with his wife on the first day of the blessing, out of reverence for that blessing of the Church, which, although it may seem annexed to the Sacrament, is nevertheless done insofar as it is a sign; but insofar as it has efficacy and is ecclesiastical, it pertains to its being complete. And thus the whole is apparent.
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- 1Hic c. 2, ex August., IX. de Gen. ad lit. c. 7. n. 12. — Superius post Et quod Vat. supplet hoc Sacramentum.Here [in the Master's text], c. 2, from Augustine, On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, bk. IX, c. 7, n. 12. — Above, after Et quod ("And that"), the Vatican edition supplies hoc Sacramentum ("this Sacrament").
- 2Vide supra d. I. p. I. q. 5, et lit. Magistri, d. IV. c. 1. — Vat. ex hoc arg. et seq. unum facit, in hoc arg. omissis verbis ergo efficit quod figurat, et in seq. Item... in nova lege.See above, d. 1, p. 1, q. 5, and the Master's text, d. 4, c. 1. — The Vatican edition makes one argument out of this one and the following, omitting in this argument the words ergo efficit quod figurat ("therefore it effects what it figures"), and in the following [omitting] Item... in nova lege ("Likewise... in the new law").
- 3Eph. 5, 32: Sacramentum hoc magnum est. — De hoc et seq. arg. conferantur verba Hug. a S. Vict. supra d. 1. p. I. q. 2. ad 3. allegata.Eph. 5:32: This is a great sacrament. — On this and the following argument let the words of Hugh of St. Victor be compared, cited above at d. 1, p. 1, q. 2, ad 3.
- 4Saltem primarum; cfr. infra lit. Magistri, d. XLII. in fine, et Comment. a. 3. q. I. seqq. — Pro sic etc. codd. IK sicut in ceteris.At least of the first [blessings]; cf. below the Master's text, d. 42, at the end, and the Commentary, a. 3, q. 1 ff. — For sic etc. codices IK read sicut in the rest.
- 5Ut ostensum est quaest. praeced.As was shown in the preceding question.
- 6Cfr. Matth. 19, 10; 1. Cor. 7, 8. et 26.Cf. Matt. 19:10; 1 Cor. 7:8 and 26.
- 7Codd. IK iungi, non pauci codd. unita, nonnulli et edd. unire.Codices IK [read] iungi, not a few codices unita, some codices and the editions unire.
- 8Vers. 9. — Mox voci digne plures codd. praemittunt in.Verse 9. — Presently, before the word digne several codices prefix in.
- 9Cod. U addit mortale. Superius pro et facit, illud codd. FLW faciens illud. Aliquanto inferius vocibus digne et his permulti codd. praefigunt in.Codex U adds mortale. Above, for et facit, illud codices FLW [read] faciens illud. Somewhat below, before the words digne and his very many codices prefix in.
- 10Respicitur definitio matrimonii infra in lit. Magistri d. XXVII. c. 2, posita et in Comment. ibid. dub. explicata. — Pro in individuam codd. RST individuam habet (plures alii codd. et ed. 1 omittunt etiam in).The definition of marriage is referred to, below in the Master's text, d. 27, c. 2, set down and explained in the Commentary there in the dubium. — For in individuam codices RST have individuam (several other codices and ed. 1 also omit in).
- 11Supple: ista concupiscentia; cod. bb supplet illa pronitas, edd. delectatio appetitivae, cod. h legit et ista excluditur. Superius pro satisfacere appetitui, quod habent codd. FWbb, codd. IK satisfactionem appetitus, alii codd. satisfactionem appetitui, edd. satisfactionem appetitivae seu appetitus sensitivi.Supply: ista concupiscentia ("this concupiscence"); codex bb supplies illa pronitas, the editions delectatio appetitivae, codex h reads et ista excluditur. Above, for satisfacere appetitui, which codices FWbb have, codices IK [read] satisfactionem appetitus, other codices satisfactionem appetitui, the editions satisfactionem appetitivae seu appetitus sensitivi.
- 12Edd. supplent variarum concupiscentia. — De triplici bono matrimonii cfr. infra lit. Magistri, d. XXXI. c. 1, et Comment. a. 1. q. 2.The editions supply variarum concupiscentia. — On the threefold good of marriage cf. below the Master's text, d. 31, c. 1, and the Commentary, a. 1, q. 2.
- 13Cod. K (I a secunda manu) addit est e converso, quia (cfr. supra d. 8. p. II. a. 2. q. 1. ad 3. 6.). Vat. sicut in eucharistia. Eadem Vat. cum ed. I superius post sed magis addit augendo.Codex K (and I by a second hand) adds est e converso, quia ("it is conversely, because") (cf. above d. 8, p. 2, a. 2, q. 1, ad 3, 6). The Vatican edition [reads] sicut in eucharistia ("just as in the eucharist"). The same Vatican edition, together with ed. 1, above after sed magis adds augendo.
- 14Matth. 19, 11. — Plurimi codd. et ed. 1 omittunt istud. Mox pro necessarium Vat. congruum vel bonum. Superius post sed in voto codd. Fbb supplent continentiae. Subinde pro ut gratia detur cod. F ut gratiam habeat, plures codd. ut gratia, cod. L ut, edd. per gratiam.Matt. 19:11. — Very many codices and ed. 1 omit istud. Presently, for necessarium the Vatican edition [reads] congruum vel bonum. Above, after sed in voto codices Fbb supply continentiae. Then, for ut gratia detur codex F [reads] ut gratiam habeat, several codices ut gratia, codex L ut, the editions per gratiam.
- 15A cod. U suppletur cum Deo.By codex U is supplied cum Deo ("with God").
- 16Cfr. C. Cum in Ecclesiae (9.) et (42.), X. de Simonia etc. (lib. V. tit. 3.).Cf. the canon Cum in Ecclesiae (9) and (42), in the Decretals (X), On Simony etc. (bk. V, tit. 3).
- 17Vide C. De illis (3.), X. de Conditionibus appositis in desponsatione etc. (lib. IV. tit. 5.), ex quo elicitur, quod non est illicitum apponere conditionem pecuniae in matrimonio contrahendo. — Non pauci codd. hic prosequuntur unde istud, edd. quia id, quae etiam inferius pro alias [codd. ER addunt [?]].See the canon De illis (3), in the Decretals (X), On conditions attached in betrothal etc. (bk. IV, tit. 5), from which it is drawn that it is not illicit to attach a condition of money in contracting a marriage. — Not a few codices here continue unde istud, the editions quia id, which [words] also below, in place of alias [codices ER add [?] — reading cut at the foot of the column].
- 18Ier. 15, 19. — In seqq. respicitur C. Sponsus et sponsa (5.), C. 30. q. 5. — Pro respicere cod. R inspicere. Mox pro huic edd. habuit. Inferius pro efficaciam cod. R gratiam.Jer. 15:19. — In what follows the canon Sponsus et sponsa (c. 5), Causa 30, q. 5, is referred to. — For respicere codex R [reads] inspicere. Presently, for huic the editions [read] habuit. Below, for efficaciam codex R [reads] gratiam. ---