Dist. 9, Art. 2, Q. 4
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 9
Quaestio IV. Utrum peccet damnabiliter ille, qui corpus Christi dat ei, quem scit esse peccatorem.
Quarto quaeritur, utrum peccet damnabiliter ille, qui corpus Domini dat ei, quem scit esse peccatorem1. Et quod sic, videtur.
1. Matthaei septimo2: Nolite sanctum dare canibus; et decimo quinto3: Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum et dare canibus.
2. Item, Cyprianus4: «Quod histrionibus sacra communio debeat dari, puto nec Maiestati divinae nec evangelicae disciplinae congruere».
3. Item, ratione videtur: quia medicus, qui daret aegroto medicinam, de qua sciret eum moriturum5, peccaret mortaliter: ergo similiter sacerdos peccat, qui dat peccatori corpus Christi, cui scit cedere in mortem6.
4. Item, quicumque daret corpus Domini alicui, ut proiiceret in latrinam, non tantum proiiciens, sed et dans peccaret mortaliter: ergo similiter in proposito. — Si dicas quod ipse non dat, sed reddit, contra: si furiosus peteret gladium suum, ut se interficeret, qui illi redderet mortaliter peccaret: ergo etc.
5. Item, si peccator peteret in occulto, peccaret qui ei daret: ergo similiter in manifesto. Si dicas, quod non, propter scandalum, contra: hoc est contra veritatem vitae; sed nihil contra veritatem vitae faciendum est propter scandalum7: ergo etc.
6. Item, aliter potest vitare scandalum, ut si pro hostia daret panem benedictum: ergo propter scandalum non tenetur.
Contra:
1. Dominus dedit corpus suum Iudae, ne proderet peccatum Iudae8: ergo similiter et sacerdos ei quem scit esse in peccato, debet dare9.
2. Item, Augustinus, de Consecratione, distinctione secunda10: «Non prohibeat dispensator peccatorem mensam Domini manducare, sed exactorem moneat timere».
3. Item, ratione videtur: quia ipse est dispensator; ergo non est suum quod dat, sed reddit alienum: ergo in facie Ecclesiae tenetur dare. Sed non peccat faciendo quod tenetur11: ergo etc.
4. Item, non debet salvare ita animam unius, quod perdat animas multorum; sed multi possent scandalizari, si non daret: ergo etc.
5. Item, si non dat, prodit crimen et revelat confessionem, quod tenetur non facere12.
6. Item, si non dat, ille13 nihilominus tamen peccat, quia facit totum quod in se est.
7. Item, si dat simplicem hostiam, ille nihilominus peccat, et est ibi simulatio in Sacramento veritatis14: ergo si hoc nullo modo est faciendum, patet etc.
Conclusio.
Sacerdos debet dare eucharistiam peccatori occulto publice petenti, non vero peccatori publico.
Respondeo: Dicendum quod sacerdos debet dare illi quem scit esse peccatorem, si petat in aperto, si sit occultus peccator, et ipse solus scit; si manifestus, nullo modo debet dare, sive petat sive non, sicut dicit Dominus, et Cyprianus de histrionibus15. — Ratio autem, quare debet dare est multiplex. Prima est, quia nescit, utrum Deus occulte operetur. Secunda est, ne prodat crimen eius. Tertia est, ne alios scandalizet. Quarta, quia ille ius habet in facie Ecclesiae, et tunc tenetur illi ius suum petenti reddere.
Ad 1. Ad illud ergo quod primo obiicitur, dicendum, quod Dominus prohibet, ut non dent, id est non offerant, non quin reddant.
Ad 3, 4. Ad illud quod obiicitur de medicina, et de illo qui proiicit: patet responsio, quia ipse non dat, sed reddit ut alienum. — Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod non est reddendus gladius furioso, dicendum, quod in iudicio teneretur reddere, si non constaret, eum esse furiosum; et quia hic peccator in iudicio et facie Ecclesiae petit, et non apparet suum peccatum: ideo debet ei dare.
Ad 5, 6. Ad illud quod obiicitur de occulto, dicendum, quod peccator indignus est: in veritate non habet ius; habet tamen ius secundum iudicium Ecclesiae, quia non constat de peccato nec constare potest; et ideo, quando operatur secundum veritatem et iudicium suum, non tenetur dare; quando secundum iudicium Ecclesiae, tenetur. Et ex hoc patet, quod non facit contra veritatem, sed secundum veritatem. Iudex enim in foro Ecclesiae iudicat secundum ea quae patent, non secundum ea quae latent; unde scandalum non est tota causa. — Ultimum patet: quia non deberet dare hostiam16; nihilominus peccaret ille, et ipse simulando17; nisi fortassis ipse peccator hostiam peteret ob vitandam infamiam et in dominici corporis reverentiam18.
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Question IV. Whether one who gives the body of Christ to someone he knows to be a sinner sins damnably.
Fourthly it is asked whether one sins damnably who gives the body of the Lord to someone he knows to be a sinner1. And that he does so seems the case.
1. Matthew the seventh2: Do not give what is holy to dogs; and the fifteenth3: It is not good to take the children's bread and give it to dogs.
2. Likewise, Cyprian4: «That the sacred communion ought to be given to actors I judge to befit neither the divine Majesty nor evangelical discipline».
3. Likewise, it seems so by reason: for a physician who would give a sick man a medicine by which he knew he would die5 would sin mortally: therefore likewise the priest sins who gives the body of Christ to a sinner, for whom he knows it turns to death6.
4. Likewise, whoever would give the body of the Lord to someone so that he might throw it into a latrine — not only the one throwing it, but also the one giving it, would sin mortally: therefore likewise in the case proposed. — If you say that he does not give but renders [it], on the contrary: if a madman were to ask for his own sword in order to kill himself, the one who rendered it to him would sin mortally: therefore etc.
5. Likewise, if a sinner were to ask in secret, the one who gave to him would sin: therefore likewise in the manifest case. If you say that he does not, on account of scandal, on the contrary: this is against the truth of life; but nothing against the truth of life is to be done on account of scandal7: therefore etc.
6. Likewise, he can avoid scandal otherwise, as if instead of the host he gave blessed bread: therefore on account of scandal he is not bound.
On the contrary:
1. The Lord gave his body to Judas, lest he betray Judas' sin8: therefore likewise the priest too ought to give to one he knows to be in sin9.
2. Likewise, Augustine, On the Consecration, distinction two10: «Let the dispenser not forbid the sinner to eat at the table of the Lord, but let him warn the exactor to be afraid».
3. Likewise, it seems so by reason: for he himself is the dispenser; therefore what he gives is not his own, but he renders what belongs to another: therefore in the face of the Church he is bound to give. But he does not sin in doing what he is bound to do11: therefore etc.
4. Likewise, he ought not to save the soul of one person in such a way that he destroy the souls of many; but many could be scandalized if he did not give: therefore etc.
5. Likewise, if he does not give, he betrays the crime and reveals the confession, which he is bound not to do12.
6. Likewise, if he does not give, that man13 nonetheless still sins, since he does all that is in him.
7. Likewise, if he gives a plain host, that man nonetheless sins, and there is in it a dissimulation in the Sacrament of truth14: therefore if this is in no way to be done, it is plain etc.
Conclusion.
The priest ought to give the eucharist to a hidden sinner asking publicly, but not to a public sinner.
I respond: It must be said that the priest ought to give to one he knows to be a sinner, if he asks openly, provided he be a hidden sinner and he alone knows it; if [he is] manifest, he ought in no way to give, whether he asks or not, as the Lord says, and Cyprian concerning actors15. — Now the reason why he ought to give is manifold. The first is that he does not know whether God is secretly at work. The second is, lest he betray his crime. The third is, lest he scandalize others. The fourth, because that man has a right in the face of the Church, and then [the priest] is bound to render to him, asking, his own right.
To 1. To that, then, which is first objected, it must be said that the Lord forbids that they not give, that is, not offer — not but that they render.
To 3, 4. To that which is objected concerning the medicine, and concerning the one who throws it away: the answer is plain, because he himself does not give, but renders what belongs to another. — To that which is objected, that the sword is not to be rendered to a madman, it must be said that in a court of judgment he would be bound to render it, if it were not established that he was mad; and because this sinner asks in the judgment and the face of the Church, and his sin does not appear: therefore he ought to give to him.
To 5, 6. To that which is objected concerning the secret [sinner], it must be said that the unworthy sinner: in truth has no right; he has, however, a right according to the judgment of the Church, because the sin is not established nor can be established; and therefore, when [the priest] acts according to the truth and his own judgment, he is not bound to give; when according to the judgment of the Church, he is bound. And from this it is plain that he does not act against the truth, but according to the truth. For the judge in the forum of the Church judges according to the things that are apparent, not according to the things that are hidden; hence scandal is not the whole cause. — The last point is plain: because he ought not to give the host16; nonetheless that man would sin, and [the priest] himself by dissimulating17; unless perhaps the sinner himself were to ask for the host to avoid infamy and out of reverence for the body of the Lord18.
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- 1Plures codd. parcit, et etiam inferius pluries edd. et codd. dissentiunt in usu utriusque verbi.Several codices read parcit (spares); and likewise below the editions and codices frequently disagree in the use of either word.
- 2Vers. 6. — Seq. textus est ibid. 13, 26, ubi Vulgata mittere pro dare.Verse 6. — The following text is at the same place, 13:26, where the Vulgate has mittere (to send) for dare (to give).
- 3Vide infra dub. 5.See below, dubium 5.
- 4Epist. 61. ad Euchratium, n. 1. Cfr. C. Pro dilectione (93.), de Consecrat. d. 2.Epistle 61 to Euchratius, n. 1. Cf. canon Pro dilectione (93), On the Consecration, d. 2.
- 5Vat. poenitere, et volens scire (pauci codd. scienter, cod. A consciente), qui non.The Vatican edition reads poenitere, et volens scire (a few codices scienter, cod. A consciente), qui non.
- 6Cfr. II. Sent. d. 39. a. 1. q. 3. — Vide scholion ad 1. huius articuli quaest.Cf. II Sentences, d. 39, a. 1, q. 3. — See the scholion on the first quaestio of this article.
- 7Cfr. hic in lit. Magistri, c. 2, verba August. et Innoc. III, IV. de Sacro altaris Mysterio, c. 13.Cf. here in the text of the Master, c. 2, the words of Augustine; and Innocent III, IV, On the Mystery of the Altar's Sacrament, c. 13.
- 8Vide supra pag. 86, nota 6. in fine, Gregor., l. Homil. in Ezech. homil. 7. n. 3, et Glossa ordinaria in Matth. 18, 6.See above, p. 86, note 6 at the end; Gregory, book of Homilies on Ezekiel, homily 7, n. 3; and the Glossa ordinaria on Matthew 18:6.
- 9Cfr. infra d. 11. p. II. dub. 8, et Qq. ex utroque Testamento mixtim (inter opera August.), q. 102.Cf. below, d. 11, p. II, dubium 8; and Questions on both Testaments mixed (among the works of Augustine), q. 102.
- 10Can. Non prohibeat (67.) dispensator manducare pingues terrae in mensa Domini, sed etc. Cfr. Gloss. ordinaria in Ps. 21, 30.Canon Non prohibeat (67): let the dispenser not forbid the rich of the earth to eat at the table of the Lord, but etc. Cf. the Glossa ordinaria on Psalm 21:30.
- 11Vel supplendum est facere, vel pro quod substituendum est cum cod. H ad quod.Either facere is to be supplied, or for quod one should substitute, with cod. H, ad quod.
- 12Cfr. C. Si peccaverit (19.), c. 2. q. 1, et infra d. 21. p. II. a. 2. q. 1.Cf. canon Si peccaverit (19), c. 2, q. 1; and below, d. 21, p. II, a. 2, q. 1.
- 13Scil. peccator indigne accedens.That is, the sinner approaching unworthily.
- 14Sensus est: peccator indigne accedens nihilominus peccat, et insuper est ibi impia simulatio.The sense is: the sinner approaching unworthily nonetheless sins, and moreover there is in it an impious dissimulation.
- 15Vide argg. 1. et 2. — Permulti codd. et ed. 1 de histrione. Inferius pro ne prodat cod. aa ne pandat.See arguments 1 and 2. — Very many codices and ed. 1 read de histrione. Below, for ne prodat, cod. aa reads ne pandat.
- 16Supple cum edd. non consecratam. Edd. substituunt nam si daret pro nihilominus, cui codd. A G K V W bb addunt enim. Paulo ante pro deberet codd. A B H aa bb bene debet.Supply with the editions non consecratam (an unconsecrated [host]). The editions substitute nam si daret for nihilominus, to which codices A G K V W bb add enim. A little before, for deberet codices A B H aa bb rightly read debet.
- 17In fine solut. codd., exceptis paucis, omittunt in ante dominici; codd. P V W habent reverentia (ablativus), pro reverentiam, cod. Y, bene et… irreverentiam (scilicet vitandam).At the end of the solution the codices, except a few, omit in before dominici; codices P V W have reverentia (ablative) for reverentiam; cod. Y rightly et… irreverentiam (namely, to be avoided).
- 18Vide scholion ad 1. huius articuli quaest.See the scholion on the first quaestio of this article. ---