Bonaventure

Nota de apparatu. Quaracchi restarts its footnote numbering on every printed page. This chunk spans pp. 947–949, so its notes are page-qualified: notes 7–8 of page 947, notes 1–11 of page 948, and notes 1–2 of page 949. Notes 1–6 of page 947 belong to the preceding question (art. II, q. 3); notes 3–6 of page 949 belong to the following question (art. III, q. 2).

Articulus III. De suffragiis, quae Sancti impendunt vivis.

Consequenter quantum ad tertium articulum quaeritur de suffragiis, quae impenduntur vivis a Sanctis sive a defunctis. Et circa hoc quaeruntur tria.

Primo quaeritur, utrum Sancti orent pro nobis.

Secundo, utrum Sancti impetrent nobis aliquid suis orationibus.

Tertio, utrum sit nobis utile rogare Sanctos.

Quaestio I. Utrum Sancti orent pro nobis.

Quantum ergo ad primum ostenditur, quod Sancti orent pro nobis:

1. Quia dicitur de Christo, qui est Sanctus Sanctorum, ad Hebraeos septimo⁷: Semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis; sed Sancti sunt eius imitatores: ergo sicut Christus orat, et Sancti orant.

2. Item, hoc ipsum probatur per illud quod dicitur Ioannis decimo quarto⁸: Ego rogabo Patrem, et alium Paraclitum dabit vobis; ergo similiter Sancti orant.

3. Item, Ecclesia communiter orat¹: « Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis », ergo etc.: ergo si non stulte petit, patet etc.

4. Item, ratione videtur: quia Sancti diligunt nos ex caritate, ergo optant et desiderant salutem nostram; sed constat, quod sciunt, illam non posse esse nisi a Deo, ergo optant illam per Deum: ergo cum desiderium alicuius rei a Deo sit oratio², patet etc.

Contra:

1. Sancti volunt nobis salutem vel aliud bonum, aut non volunt. Si nolunt: ergo non orant; si volunt; sed dicit Anselmus in Proslogio³ quod « Beati erunt omnipotentes suae voluntatis, sicut et Deus suae »: ergo cum « nullus oret quod potest per se », sicut dicit Augustinus de Correctione et gratia; si Sancti possunt, salutem nostram non orant, vel non sunt omnipotentes, si non possunt.

2. Item, ut dicit Damascenus⁴, « oratio est ascensus intellectus in Deum »; sed Beati sunt in termino suae contemplationis: ergo eorum intellectus in Deum non ascendit, ergo non orant.

3. Item, beatus est cui ad votum cuncta succedunt; unde Augustinus decimo tertio de Trinitate⁵ dicit, quod « Beatus habet quidquid vult »; sed nullus, habens quidquid vult, aliquid orat vel petit: ergo Sancti in patria non orant pro nobis.

Item, si Christus orat pro nobis, quaeritur quare non dicitur in Litania: Christe, ora pro nobis? Ergo si non dicitur, videtur, quod non oret pro nobis, ac per hoc nec Sancti.

Item, quaeritur: quare non dirigitur ad Spiritum sanctum oratio, sicut ad Patrem et Filium⁶?

Conclusio. Sancti in caelo pro nobis orant.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod, sicut dicit Magister in littera⁷, « Sancti pro nobis orant ». — Et huius ratio est duplex: una est, quia vident nostram necessitatem, qua nos indigemus ab aliis relevari; alia propter Dei voluntatem, quia vult, ut unum membrum aliud relevet, et quod pro invicem sollicita sint membra⁸; unde cum ipsi sint liberati, debent alios adiuvare.

Ad 1. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur, quod possunt quidquid volunt; dicendum, quod voluntas dupliciter comparatur ad actum: aut ad actum proprium, ut volo hoc facere; aut ad actum alienum, ut volo, quod alius faciat hoc, scilicet Deus vel homo. Unde dico, quod auctoritas Anselmi est respectu actus proprii, sed oratio vel petitio salutis respectu actus divini, ut scilicet Deus salvet.

Ad 2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod non ascendit intellectus in Deum; dicendum, quod intellectus dicitur in Deum ascendere tripliciter: aut per novum aspectum in Deum, scilicet quando homo revocat cogitationem ab aliis et convertit in Deum; et sic est tantum in viatoribus. — Alio modo, per aspectum alterius inferioris rei, ut cum quis cogitat humanam miseriam et implorat misericordiam, ut relevet miseriam; ibi dicitur aspectus, non quia de novo aspiciat, sed quia aliud inferius ad illud respiciat; et sic est in Beatis, quando pro nobis rogant, quia tunc nostram indigentiam considerant. — Tertio modo, propter continuationem intuitus primi; unde cum quis considerat Deum, qui est super se, et continue considerat, continue ascendit, non quia ad aliud et ad aliud, sed quia super se fertur; et hoc modo continue est in Beatis. Et sic patet istud, quia, si primo modo dicatur oratio, ascensus est tantum viae, secundo modo est viae et patriae, tertio modo tantum patriae⁹.

Ad 3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod Beatus habet quidquid vult; dicendum, quod Beatus aliqua vult sibi, aliqua vult aliis. Dico ergo, quod ad substantiam¹⁰ beatitudinis est, ut habeat omne quod vult sibi; sed ut habeat omne quod vult aliis, non est de substantia beatitudinis, sed de consummatione et bene esse; et hoc non erit, quousque omnes electi sint glorificati. Tunc enim quilibet habebit quod vult sibi et quod vult cuilibet alii; et tunc plena est beatitudo. Unde¹¹ Beati orant tantum pro aliis, miseri pro se et pro aliis; sed consummato numero electorum, non rogabunt pro se nec pro aliis.

Ad quaestionem incidentem 1. Ad illud quod ultimo quaeritur de Christo, dicendum, quod propter errorem Arii vitandum¹, ne videamur Christum credere creaturam; et ne videamur eius potestatem minuere, qua potest omnia, eius petimus miserationem, non orationem.

Ad quaestionem incidentem 2. Quod vero quaeritur de Spiritu sancto, dicendum est, quod quia est donum, in quo omnia dona donantur², ideo petendus est ipse, non porrigenda est ei petitio.

Article III. On the suffrages which the Saints bestow upon the living.

Next, as to the third article, inquiry is made concerning the suffrages which are bestowed upon the living by the Saints or by the departed. And concerning this three things are asked.

First it is asked, whether the Saints pray for us.

Second, whether the Saints obtain anything for us by their prayers.

Third, whether it is useful for us to ask the Saints.

Question I. Whether the Saints pray for us.

As to the first, then, it is shown that the Saints do pray for us:

1. Because it is said of Christ, who is the Holy of Holies, in Hebrews the seventh⁷: Always living to make intercession for us; but the Saints are his imitators: therefore as Christ prays, the Saints also pray.

2. Again, this same thing is proved by that which is said in John the fourteenth⁸: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete; therefore in like manner the Saints pray.

3. Again, the Church commonly prays¹: "Holy Mary, pray for us," therefore etc.: therefore if she does not ask foolishly, the point is clear, etc.

4. Again, it seems so by reason: because the Saints love us out of charity, therefore they choose and desire our salvation; but it is agreed that they know that salvation cannot be except from God, therefore they choose it through God: therefore since the desire of anything from God is prayer², the point is clear, etc.

On the contrary:

1. The Saints either will for us salvation or some other good, or they do not will it. If they do not will it, then they do not pray; if they do will it — but Anselm says in the Proslogion³ that "the Blessed will be omnipotent over their own will, as God is over his": therefore since "no one prays for what he can do of himself," as Augustine says in On Correction and Grace; if the Saints are able, they do not pray for our salvation, or else they are not omnipotent, if they are not able.

2. Again, as the Damascene says⁴, "prayer is the ascent of the intellect into God"; but the Blessed are at the term of their contemplation: therefore their intellect does not ascend into God, therefore they do not pray.

3. Again, he is blessed for whom all things turn out according to his wish; whence Augustine in the thirteenth book On the Trinity⁵ says that "the Blessed man has whatever he wills"; but no one who has whatever he wills prays or asks for anything: therefore the Saints in the fatherland do not pray for us.

Again, if Christ prays for us, it is asked why it is not said in the Litany: Christ, pray for us? Therefore if it is not said, it seems that he does not pray for us, and by this neither do the Saints.

Again, it is asked: why is prayer not directed to the Holy Spirit, as it is to the Father and the Son⁶?

Conclusion. The Saints in heaven pray for us.

I answer: It must be said that, as the Master says in the text⁷, "the Saints pray for us." — And the ground of this is twofold: one is that they see our need, by which we require to be relieved by others; the other is on account of God's will, because he wills that one member should relieve another, and that the members should be solicitous for one another⁸; whence, since they themselves have been set free, they ought to help others.

To 1. To that, then, which is objected, that they can do whatever they will: it must be said that the will is compared to an act in two ways: either to its own act, as "I will to do this"; or to another's act, as "I will that another do this," namely God or man. Whence I say that Anselm's authority is with respect to one's own act, but prayer or the petition for salvation is with respect to the divine act, namely that God should save.

To 2. To that which is objected, that the intellect does not ascend into God: it must be said that the intellect is said to ascend into God in three ways: either by a new regard toward God, namely when a man recalls his thought from other things and turns it toward God; and thus it is only in wayfarers. — In another way, by the regard of some lower thing, as when someone considers human misery and implores mercy, that it may relieve the misery; there it is called a regard, not because he looks anew, but because something lower looks toward that; and thus it is in the Blessed, when they ask on our behalf, because then they consider our indigence. — In a third way, on account of the continuation of the first gaze; whence when someone considers God, who is above him, and considers him continuously, he continuously ascends, not because he passes to one thing and another, but because he is borne above himself; and in this way it is continuously in the Blessed. And thus this is clear, because, if prayer is spoken of in the first way, the ascent belongs only to the way; in the second way it belongs to the way and to the fatherland; in the third way only to the fatherland⁹.

To 3. To that which is objected, that the Blessed man has whatever he wills: it must be said that the Blessed man wills some things for himself, some things for others. I say therefore that it belongs to the substance¹⁰ of beatitude that he should have everything he wills for himself; but that he should have everything he wills for others does not belong to the substance of beatitude, but to its consummation and well-being; and this will not be until all the elect are glorified. For then each will have what he wills for himself and what he wills for every other; and then beatitude is full. Whence¹¹ the Blessed pray only for others, the wretched for themselves and for others; but when the number of the elect has been consummated, they will ask neither for themselves nor for others.

To the first incidental question. To that which is asked last concerning Christ, it must be said that it is for the sake of avoiding the error of Arius¹, lest we should seem to believe Christ a creature; and lest we should seem to diminish his power, by which he can do all things, we ask of him his compassion, not his prayer.

To the second incidental question. But as to what is asked concerning the Holy Spirit, it must be said that, because he is the Gift in whom all gifts are given², therefore he himself is to be asked for, and a petition is not to be offered to him.