Bonaventure

Articulus II. De suffragiis, quae animae defunctorum recipiunt a vivis.

Consequenter quantum ad secundum articulum quaeritur de suffragiis, quae recipiunt animae defunctorum a vivis. Et circa hoc quaeruntur tria.

Primo quaeritur, utrum suffragia prosint defunctis, qui sunt mediocriter boni.

Secundo, utrum defunctis prosint suffragia facta per malos.

Tertio, quantum prosint suffragia; et cum non aequaliter omnibus, quaeritur, cui magis: aut ei qui magis meruit, aut ei, pro quo specialiter fiunt.

Quaestio I. Utrum suffragia prosint defunctis mediocriter bonis.

Quantum ergo ad primum proceditur sic, et ostenditur, quod non prosint mediocriter bonis.

1. Magis dignis debent Ecclesiae suffragia proficere; sed non prosunt bonis, qui sunt in paradiso⁴: ergo etc. Si dicas, quod non indigent, ideo non est simile; contra: in vita ista peccatores indigent, et tamen necesse est, quod ipsi faciant poenitentiam, non alii pro ipsis.

2. Item, illi qui non est in statu merendi nec esse potest, nihil prodest alienum suffragium, sicut patet, si aliquis sit stultus irrevocabiliter; sed tales sunt mortui: ergo etc. Si tu dicas, quod prius meruerunt, ut eis prodessent in statu illo⁵; contra: quodcumque meruerunt, necesse est, eos meruisse, et quod necesse est eos meruisse, necesse est remunerari: ergo si nunquam fiant suffragia, remunerabuntur: ergo nihil eis prosunt.

3. Item, poena purgatoria mensuratur secundum quantitatem cremabilis: ergo cum suffragia non minuant de culpa, ergo nec de poena. — Quod non minuant de culpa, patet, quia solus Deus habet effectum in animam. Si tu dicas, quod habent effectum in animam per modum meriti, et Deus merito suffragiorum minuit; contra: etsi Deus deleat culpae maculam per se, tamen reatum⁶ per poenam; sed constat, quod in eis quantum ad reatum oportet deleri culpam: ergo per poenam purgatoriam; sed hoc nihilominus faceret sine suffragiis: ergo etc.

4. Item, hoc ostenditur per deductionem ad impossibile, quoniam, si delet partem, ergo possibile est, quod totum, et ita ille remanebit impunitus⁷.

Sed contra:

1. Auctoritate sacrae Scripturae, secundo Machabaeorum duodecimo⁸: Sancta et salubris est cogitatio pro defunctis exorare, ut a peccatis solvantur.

2. Item, Augustinus, de Cura pro mortuis agenda⁹: « Beneficia et sacrificia, quae offeruntur pro non valde malis, sunt propitiationes »: ergo etc.

2. Item, hoc ostenditur auctoritate Ecclesiae et usu, quae orat pro defunctis: si ergo Ecclesia non decipitur, patet, quod suffragia valent¹⁰.

3. Item, ratione videtur: quia poena purgatoria est terminabilis, ergo et diminuibilis; sed si pro eo qui potest crescere in gratia, fiat oratio, valet ad gratiam augmentandam: ergo pari ratione, si fiat pro eo cuius poena potest diminui, valet ad poenam diminuendam.

4. Item, sicut se habent orationes Sanctorum mortuorum ad vivos, sic vivorum ad mortuos; sed Sancti mortui impetrant nobis bona et nos adiuvant¹: ergo et vivi mortuos.

Conclusio

Suffragia defunctis mediocriter bonis prosunt.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod quia in omni opere Domini est misericordia et veritas², duo sunt quae faciunt suffragia Ecclesiae valere, scilicet dignitas et necessitas. Iustitia enim considerat dignitatem; et digni sunt qui in caritate decesserunt ab aliis membris Ecclesiae adiuvari, maxime si ipsi alios adiuverunt. Misericordia vero considerat necessitatem; et haec quidem magna est in his qui sunt in purgatorio, quia graviter puniuntur et se iuvare non possunt³.

Ad argumenta pro parte negativa:

Ad 1. Ex hoc patet responsio ad primum, quia suffragia non ita valent comprehensoribus, scilicet quia non indigent, et non ita viatoribus, quia adhuc se possunt iuvare.

Ad 2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod non sunt in statu merendi; dicendum, quod quamvis non sint in statu merendi, sunt tamen in statu solvendi; solvunt enim quae debent: et ideo, etsi non possint adiuvari in merito, possunt tamen adiuvari in solutione; status autem solvendi non est semper cum statu meriti, sed illum praesupponit, scilicet quod prius meruit, quod in tali statu posset solvere et iuvari⁴. — Quod obiicit, quod si meruit, necesse est meruisse; dicendum, quod verum est de merito absoluto, sed illud fuit meritum conditionale⁵.

Ad 3. Ad illud quod obiicitur: secundum quantitatem cremabilis etc., dicendum, quod quantitas poenae non respicit maculam, sed reatum⁶; et obligatio ad poenam minuitur solutione poenae facta ab ipso, vel ab alio.

Ad 4. Ad illud, quod solveretur tota, et sic etc.; dicendum, quod verum est, si tot essent suffragia; sed suffragia non auferunt a poena nec liberant, nisi dum fiunt; et in illo tempore homo punitur, et alii pro ipso: ideo non remanet impunitus. Verumtamen, si superabundarent, tunc possibile esset, totum remitti; nec tamen peccatum remaneret impunitum, quia, quamvis non puniatur in se, punitur tamen alio modo in aliis, sicut supra dictum fuit de baptismo⁷; hoc tamen vix aut nunquam fit.

Nota de apparatu. Quaracchi begins its footnote numbering afresh on every printed page. The apparatus below is therefore labelled by page: notes 4–10 of page 943 and notes 1–7 of page 944. Notes 1–3 of page 943 are anchored in the preceding chunk (a1-q3) and are rendered there.

Article II. On the suffrages which the souls of the dead receive from the living.

Consequently, as to the second article, inquiry is made concerning the suffrages which the souls of the dead receive from the living. And concerning this three things are asked.

First it is asked whether suffrages profit the dead who are moderately good.

Second, whether suffrages made by the wicked profit the dead.

Third, how much suffrages profit; and since not equally to all, it is asked to whom more: either to him who merited more, or to him for whom they are specially made.

Question I. Whether suffrages profit the dead who are moderately good.

As to the first, then, one proceeds thus, and it is shown that they do not profit the moderately good.

1. The suffrages of the Church ought to benefit the more worthy; but they do not profit the good who are in paradise⁴: therefore etc. If you say that they do not need them, and that therefore the case is not alike; on the contrary: in this life sinners do need them, and yet it is necessary that they themselves do penance, and not others for them.

2. Likewise, to him who is not in the state of meriting, nor can be, another's suffrage profits nothing, as is plain if someone be irrevocably a fool; but such are the dead: therefore etc. If you say that they previously merited that these should profit them in that state⁵; on the contrary: whatever they merited, it is necessary that they merited it, and what it is necessary that they merited, it is necessary should be rewarded: therefore even if suffrages should never be made, they will be rewarded: therefore these profit them nothing.

3. Likewise, the punishment of purgatory is measured according to the quantity of what is combustible: therefore, since suffrages do not diminish anything of the fault, therefore neither anything of the punishment. — That they do not diminish anything of the fault is plain, because God alone has effect upon the soul. If you say that they have an effect upon the soul by way of merit, and that God diminishes it by the merit of the suffrages; on the contrary: even if God blots out the stain of the fault by Himself, yet the guilt⁶ He blots out by punishment; but it is agreed that in them, as regards the guilt, the fault must be blotted out: therefore by the punishment of purgatory; but He would do this nonetheless without suffrages: therefore etc.

4. Likewise, this is shown by a reduction to the impossible, since, if it blots out a part, therefore it is possible that it blot out the whole, and so that man will remain unpunished⁷.

On the contrary:

1. By the authority of sacred Scripture, in the twelfth chapter of Second Maccabees⁸: It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins.

2. Likewise, Augustine, On the Care to Be Had for the Dead⁹: « The benefits and sacrifices which are offered for those who are not very evil are propitiations »: therefore etc.

2. Likewise, this is shown by the authority and usage of the Church, which prays for the dead: if therefore the Church is not deceived, it is plain that suffrages avail¹⁰.

3. Likewise, it seems so by reason: because the punishment of purgatory is terminable, therefore also diminishable; but if prayer be made for one who can grow in grace, it avails for the increasing of grace: therefore by parity of reasoning, if it be made for one whose punishment can be diminished, it avails for the diminishing of the punishment.

4. Likewise, as the prayers of the dead Saints stand toward the living, so those of the living toward the dead; but the dead Saints obtain good things for us and help us¹: therefore also the living help the dead.

Conclusion

Suffrages profit the dead who are moderately good.

I respond: It must be said that, since in every work of the Lord there is mercy and truth², there are two things which make the suffrages of the Church avail, namely worthiness and need. For justice considers worthiness; and they are worthy to be helped by the other members of the Church who have departed in charity, especially if they themselves helped others. But mercy considers need; and this indeed is great in those who are in purgatory, because they are gravely punished and cannot help themselves³.

To the arguments for the negative side:

Ad 1. From this the answer to the first is plain, because suffrages do not avail thus for the comprehensors, namely because they do not need them, and not thus for wayfarers, because they can still help themselves.

Ad 2. To that which is objected, that they are not in the state of meriting; it must be said that although they are not in the state of meriting, they are nevertheless in the state of paying; for they pay what they owe: and therefore, even if they cannot be helped in merit, they can nevertheless be helped in payment; but the state of paying is not always together with the state of merit, but presupposes it, namely that he first merited that in such a state he might be able to pay and be helped⁴. — As to what he objects, that if he merited, it is necessary that he merited; it must be said that this is true of absolute merit, but that merit was conditional⁵.

Ad 3. To that which is objected, "according to the quantity of what is combustible" etc., it must be said that the quantity of the punishment does not regard the stain, but the guilt⁶; and the obligation to punishment is diminished by the payment of the punishment made either by the man himself or by another.

Ad 4. To that which says that the whole would be paid, and so etc.; it must be said that this is true, if there were suffrages enough; but suffrages do not take away from the punishment nor free from it, except while they are being made; and at that time the man is punished, and others for him: therefore he does not remain unpunished. Nevertheless, if they should superabound, then it would be possible that the whole be remitted; nor yet would the sin remain unpunished, because, although it be not punished in him, it is nevertheless punished in another way in others, as was said above concerning baptism⁷; this, however, scarcely or never happens.