Pars 6, Cap. 13
Breviloquium · Pars VI: De medicina sacramentali
Capitulum XIII. De integritate matrimonii.
De Sacramento matrimonii hoc in summa tenendum est, quod « matrimonium est coniunctio legitima maris et feminae, individuam vitae consuetudinem retinens2 ». Haec autem coniunctio non solum fuit post peccatum, verum etiam ante peccatum; sed prius fuit institutum Sacramentum coniugii in officium, nunc autem non solum in officium, verum etiam in remedium contra libidinis morbum; prius significabat coniunctionem Dei et animae, nunc autem praeter hoc significat coniunctionem Christi et Ecclesiae et duarum naturarum in unitate personae. — Introducitur autem haec coniunctio in esse per liberum consensum animorum ex parte utriusque personae, exterius expressum in aliquo signo sensibili, consummari autem habet in copula carnali. Nam per verba de futuro dicitur matrimonium initiari, per verba de praesenti ratificari, sed per carnalem copulam habet consummari. — Huius autem Sacramenti tria sunt bona, « scilicet fides, proles et Sacramentum3 »: et duodecim impedimenta, quae impediunt contrahendum et dirimunt iam contractum, quae in his versibus continentur:
Error, conditio, votum, cognatio, crimen, Cultus disparitas, vis, ordo, ligamen, honestas; Si sis affinis, si forte coire nequibis: Haec socianda vetant coniugia, iuncta retractant.
Ratio autem ad intelligentiam praedictorum haec est: quia principium nostrum reparativum, Verbum scilicet incarnatum, eo ipso quod Verbum Dei, est fons sapientiae in excelsis4; eo ipso quod incarnatum, est clementiae fons in terris; et ideo, eo ipso quod Verbum increatum, est humani generis formativum ex summa sapientia; eo ipso quod incarnatum, est ipsius reformativum ex summa clementia. Ideo enim humanum genus reparat per clementiam, quia prius reparabile fecit ex sapientia, quae pro suo summo ordine exigebat, quod genus humanum faceret potens stare, potens labi, potens etiam reparari, sicut in praecedentibus5 ostensum fuit. Quoniam ergo Verbum Dei in sua sapientia hominem fecit, sicut et congruum fuit, potentem stare, cadere et surgere; hinc est, quod genus humanum eo modo propagandum ordinavit, quod ex ipso modo propagandi haberet quod manuduceret ipsum ad standum; haberet etiam quod manuduceret ad remedium, sicut etiam in propagatione illa est aliquid per peccatum, scilicet libido, quod traducit morbum. Et quia status hominis erat ex coniunctione ipsius animae ad Deum per amorem unitivum modo castissimo, singulari et individuo; remedium veniebat ex coniunctione divinae naturae et humanae in unitatem hypostasis et personae, unitatem, inquam, divina gratia introductam ut singularem et individuam: hinc est, quod Deus ab initio instituit, ut propagatio fieret per coniunctionem maris et feminae individuam et singularem, quae significaret ante peccatum coniunctionem Dei et animae, seu Dei et subcaelestis6 hierarchiae, post peccatum vero coniunctionem Dei et humanae naturae, seu Christi et Ecclesiae; et ideo utrobique est Sacramentum, scilicet ante et post, licet alio et alio modo, quantum ad significationem et usum. Cum enim esset Sacramentum, antequam superveniret morbus; libido, quae supervenit per peccatum, potius habet per matrimonium excusari, quam ipsum valeat vitiare; quia non morbus medicamentum corrumpit, sed medicamentum habet curare morbum7. — Ex quo manifeste apparet, quid sit matrimonium, et qualiter divinitus sit introductum in esse.
Rursus, quia quaelibet praedictarum spiritualium unionum in Sacramento matrimonii significatarum est unio unius sicut agentis et influentis, alte- p. 280 rius sicut patientis et suscipientis; et hoc, faciente amoris vinculo, qui ex mera voluntate procedit: hinc est, quod matrimonium debet esse coniunctio duplicis personae, differentis secundum rationem agentis et patientis, scilicet virilis sexus et muliebris, et hoc ex mero consensu voluntatis. — Et quia voluntas exterius non apparet nisi per signa ipsam exprimentia; hinc est, quod necesse est, ut consensus mutuus exterius exprimatur1. — Quia vero consensus ut de futuro non est proprie consensus, sed ipsius promissio; consensus vero ante commixtionem non facit plenariam unionem, quia nondum sunt una caro: hinc est, quod per verba de futuro dicitur matrimonium esse initiatum, de praesenti confirmatum, sed in carnali copula consummatum, quia tunc sunt una caro et unum corpus fiunt; ac per hoc plene significat unionem illam, quae est inter nos et Christum. Tunc enim plene traducitur corpus unius in corpus alterius secundum sui comparis potestatem2 ad procreandam prolem.
Et ideo ipsius matrimonii sunt tria bona, scilicet Sacramentum propter vinculum insolubile, fides propter debiti solutionem, proles vero sicut effectus consequens ad utrumque.
Postremo, quia dicta coniunctio matrimonialis debet esse ex libero consensu procedens ad copulationem personarum distantium in unam matrimonii legem; et hoc potest duodecim modis impediri: hinc est, quod duodecim sunt impedimenta matrimonii; quod patet sic. — Ad matrimonialem namque consensum requiritur libertas in consensu, libertas in consentiente et idoneitas ad coniunctionem. Sed libertas in consensu tollitur per duo secundum duas partes involuntarii, scilicet per ignorantiam et per violentiam3. Et sic sunt duo impedimenta, scilicet error et violentia. — Libertas autem in consentiente tollitur per hoc, quod quis est alligatus alteri, et hoc vel Deo, vel homini. Si Deo, hoc est vel per votum expressum, vel per aliquid, quod habet votum annexum. Primum est in voto, secundum in ordine. Si autem homini, hoc dupliciter: aut per ligamen existens, aut per praecedens. Primum est in ligamine, quo quis ligatus est uxori; secundum est in crimine, quando moechus, vel moecha machinatus est in mortem coniugis, vel, ipso vivente, fidem de contrahendo dedit. Et sic sunt quatuor impedimenta, scilicet votum, ordo, ligamen et crimen. — Idoneitas autem ad unionem est distantia personarum conveniens, quae tollitur per nimiam proximitatem, vel per nimiam elongationem. Nimia autem proximitas venit4 per generationem, sive per aliquid simile generationi, ut est cognatio legalis et spiritualis; aut venit per commixtionem sexuum, aut per contractionem sponsalium. Et sic sunt tria impedimenta, scilicet cognatio, affinitas et publicae iustitiae honestas. — Nimia autem distantia aut attenditur quantum ad ea quae sunt naturae, ut cum non possunt commisceri carnaliter; aut quantum ad ea quae sunt fortunae, quae non sunt in nostra potestate, ut patet, cum est unus servus, et alter liber; aut quantum ad ea quae sunt religionis christianae, ut cum quis est baptizatus, alter vero minime. Et sic sunt tria impedimenta, scilicet impotentia coeundi, error conditionis et disparitas religionis. — Ac per hoc sunt in universo duodecim impedimenta, quae, Spiritu sancto dictante, introducta sunt in Ecclesia, cui, etsi omnia Sacramenta sint commissa, potissime5 coniugii Sacramentum commissum est regulandum propter varietates, quae circa hoc Sacramentum incidere possunt, et propter morbum annexum, qui est maxime infectivus et minime tenens modum; et ideo ipsius Ecclesiae est gradus cognationum limitare, sicut pro tempore expedire videt, et personas legitimas vel illegitimas iudicare et divortia facere. Sed nunquam debet nec potest matrimonium, quod legitime introductum est, annullare, quia quos Deus coniunxit non potest homo, quantumcumque sit magnae potentiae, separare6, cum ipsius Dei iudicio iudicandi remaneant universi.
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Chapter XIII. On the integrity of marriage.
Concerning the Sacrament of marriage this must be held in summary: that « marriage is the lawful conjunction of a male and a female, retaining an undivided common manner of life2 ». Now this conjunction was not only after sin, but also before sin; but formerly the Sacrament of marriage was instituted unto an office, whereas now it is instituted not only unto an office, but also unto a remedy against the disease of lust; formerly it signified the conjunction of God and the soul, whereas now, besides this, it signifies the conjunction of Christ and the Church and of the two natures in the unity of a person. — Now this conjunction is introduced into being through the free consent of minds on the part of each person, outwardly expressed in some sensible sign, but it has to be consummated in carnal union. For through words concerning the future marriage is said to be initiated, through words concerning the present to be ratified, but through carnal union it has to be consummated. — Now of this Sacrament there are three goods, « namely faith, offspring and Sacrament3 »; and twelve impediments, which impede the contracting and dissolve what is already contracted, which are contained in these verses:
Error, condition, vow, kinship, crime, Disparity of worship, force, [holy] order, [prior] bond, [public] decency; If you be a kinsman by affinity, if perchance you be unable to have intercourse: These things forbid marriages that are to be allied, and undo them when joined.
Now the reason for the understanding of the aforesaid is this: since our reparative principle, the Word namely incarnate, by this very fact that he is the Word of God, is the fount of wisdom on high4; by this very fact that he is incarnate, is the fount of clemency on earth; and therefore, by this very fact that he is the uncreated Word, he is the formative [principle] of the human race out of the highest wisdom; by this very fact that he is incarnate, he is its reformative [principle] out of the highest clemency. For he repairs the human race through clemency for this reason, that he first made it reparable out of wisdom, which for its own highest order required that he should make the human race able to stand, able to fall, able also to be repaired, as was shown in the preceding5. Since therefore the Word of God in his wisdom made man — as also it was fitting — able to stand, to fall and to rise; hence it is that he ordained the human race to be propagated in that mode by which, from the very mode of propagating, it should have that which might lead it by the hand to standing; it should have also that which might lead it by the hand to a remedy, just as also in that propagation there is something through sin, namely lust, which transmits the disease. And because the state of man was from the conjunction of his soul to God through a unitive love in a mode most chaste, single and undivided; the remedy came from the conjunction of the divine nature and the human into the unity of hypostasis and of person — a unity, I say, introduced by divine grace as single and undivided: hence it is that God from the beginning instituted that propagation should come about through an undivided and single conjunction of male and female, which should signify before sin the conjunction of God and the soul, or of God and the subcelestial6 hierarchy, but after sin the conjunction of God and human nature, or of Christ and the Church; and therefore in both cases there is a Sacrament, namely before and after, although in one mode and another, as regards signification and use. For since it was a Sacrament before the disease supervened, lust, which supervened through sin, is rather to be excused through marriage than able to vitiate it; because the disease does not corrupt the medicine, but the medicine has to cure the disease7. — From which it manifestly appears what marriage is, and how it was introduced divinely into being.
Again, since each of the aforesaid spiritual unions signified in the Sacrament of marriage is a union of the one as of the agent and of that which flows in, of the o- p. 280 ther as of the patient and of that which receives; and this, by the bond of love effecting it, which proceeds from the mere will: hence it is that marriage ought to be a conjunction of a twofold person, differing according to the account of the agent and of the patient, namely of the male sex and of the female, and this from the mere consent of the will. — And because the will does not outwardly appear save through signs expressing it; hence it is that it is necessary that the mutual consent be outwardly expressed1. — But because consent as concerning the future is not properly consent, but a promise of it; and consent before the mingling does not make a full union, because they are not yet one flesh: hence it is that through words concerning the future marriage is said to be initiated, through words concerning the present confirmed, but in carnal union consummated, because then they are one flesh and become one body; and through this it fully signifies that union which is between us and Christ. For then the body of the one is fully transferred into the body of the other according to the power of one's own consort2 for the procreating of offspring.
And therefore of marriage itself there are three goods, namely the Sacrament on account of the indissoluble bond, faith on account of the rendering of the debt, and offspring as an effect following upon both.
Lastly, since the said matrimonial conjunction ought to be one proceeding from free consent to the coupling of persons standing apart into one law of marriage; and this can be impeded in twelve modes: hence it is that there are twelve impediments of marriage, which appears thus. — For to matrimonial consent there is required liberty in the consent, liberty in the one consenting, and fitness for the conjunction. But liberty in the consent is taken away through two things according to the two parts of the involuntary, namely through ignorance and through violence3. And thus there are two impediments, namely error and violence. — But liberty in the one consenting is taken away through this, that someone is bound to another, and this either to God or to man. If to God, this is either through an express vow or through something which has a vow annexed. The first is in the vow, the second in order. But if to man, this in two ways: either through an existing bond or through a preceding one. The first is in the bond by which someone is bound to a wife; the second is in crime, when an adulterer or an adulteress has machinated the death of the spouse, or, while that one is living, has given a pledge concerning contracting. And thus there are four impediments, namely vow, order, bond and crime. — But fitness for the union is a fitting distance of persons, which is taken away through too great nearness or through too great remoteness. Now too great nearness comes4 through generation, or through something like generation, as is legal and spiritual kinship; or it comes through the mingling of the sexes, or through the contracting of betrothals. And thus there are three impediments, namely kinship, affinity and the decency of public justice. — But too great distance is attended to either as regards those things which are of nature, as when they cannot be mingled carnally; or as regards those things which are of fortune, which are not in our power, as is plain when the one is a slave and the other free; or as regards those things which are of the Christian religion, as when one is baptized but the other not at all. And thus there are three impediments, namely impotence for intercourse, error of condition and disparity of religion. — And through this there are in all twelve impediments, which, the Holy Spirit dictating, have been introduced in the Church, to which, although all the Sacraments are committed, most especially5 the Sacrament of marriage has been committed to be regulated, on account of the varieties which can befall concerning this Sacrament, and on account of the annexed disease, which is most of all infective and least of all keeps measure; and therefore it belongs to the Church herself to limit the degrees of kinship, as she sees to be expedient for the time, and to judge persons legitimate or illegitimate and to make divorces. But never ought she, nor is she able, to annul a marriage which has been legitimately introduced, because those whom God has joined man cannot, however great his power may be, separate6, since all men remain to be judged by the judgment of God himself.
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- 2Secundum Iustinian., Institut. imper. lib. I. tit. 9. de Patria potestate. Cfr. tom. IV. pag. 684, nota 4. — Distinctio finis coniugii, scil. in officium et in remedium, est ex August., IX. de Gen. ad lit. c. 7. n. 12. — Subinde respicitur Eph. 5, 22. seqq. (ubi de coniunctione Christi et Ecclesiae).According to Justinian, Imperial Institutes lib. I, tit. 9, On paternal power. Cf. tom. IV, p. 684, note 4. — The distinction of the end of marriage, namely unto an office and unto a remedy, is from Augustine, On Genesis according to the letter IX, c. 7, n. 12. — Thereafter Eph. 5:22 and following is regarded (where the conjunction of Christ and the Church is treated).
- 3August., IX. de Gen. ad lit. c. 7. n. 12. De hoc cap. vide IV. Sent. d. 26-42. — Impedimentis post Tridentinum (praeter impedimentum aetatis, quod includitur secundum Bonav., IV. Sent. d. 36. Divis. textus, in impedimento conditionis) duo alia adiunguntur: / Si parochi et duplicis desit praesentia testis, / Raptave sit mulier nec parti reddita tutae.Augustine, On Genesis according to the letter IX, c. 7, n. 12. On this chapter see IV Sent. d. 26–42. — To the impediments after Trent (besides the impediment of age, which according to Bonaventure, IV Sent. d. 36, Division of the text, is included under the impediment of condition) two others are joined: / If the presence of the parish priest and of a double witness be lacking, / Or the woman have been carried off and not restored to a place of safety.
- 4Eccli. 1, 5: Fons sapientiae verbum Dei in excelsis.Ecclus. 1:5: The fount of wisdom is the word of God on high.
- 5Partis I. c. 1; II. c. 9. seq. et p. III. c. 1.Of Part I, c. 1; of Part II, c. 9 and following; and of Part III, c. 1.
- 6Sive, ut supra Prolog. § 3. et p. IV. c. 3. dicitur, ecclesiasticae sive humanae, quae ibid. distinguitur a divina et angelica. — D G H et 1 supercaelestis (!). Post pauca pro coniunctionem Christi substituimus ex M T coniunctionem Dei.Or, as is said above in the Prologue § 3 and in Part IV c. 3, of the ecclesiastical or human [hierarchy], which is there distinguished from the divine and the angelic. — D, G, H and edition 1 read supercelestial (!). A little further on, for the conjunction of Christ we have substituted from M and T the conjunction of God.
- 7Cfr. IV. Sent. d. 26. a. 2. q. 2. et d. 31. a. 2. q. 1. in corp.Cf. IV Sent. d. 26, a. 2, q. 2, and d. 31, a. 2, q. 1, in the body.
- 1Vide IV. Sent. d. 27. a. 2. q. 1. seq. — De seq. propositione, in qua respicitur Matth. 19, 6. et I. Cor. 6, 16, cfr. ibid. d. 28. q. 1. — Inferius post de praesenti Vat. 1 et 2 addunt ratum vel (de ista triplici matrimonii distinctione cfr. IV. Sent. d. 27. dub. 5.).See IV Sent. d. 27, a. 2, q. 1 and following. — On the following proposition, in which Matt. 19:6 and I Cor. 6:16 are regarded, cf. the same, d. 28, q. 1. — Below, after concerning the present, the Vatican edition and editions 1 and 2 add ratified or (on that threefold distinction of marriage cf. IV Sent. d. 27, dub. 5).
- 2Respicitur I. Cor. 7, 4. — Inferius post scilicet M addit fides, proles et Sacramentum, et pro consequens 2 cum D ponit communis.I Cor. 7:4 is regarded. — Below, after namely, M adds faith, offspring and Sacrament; and for following edition 2, with D, puts common.
- 3Cfr. supra pag. 240, nota 5.Cf. above, p. 240, note 5.
- 4Plures codd. aut est, Vat., 1 et 3 venit sive. Inferius ante spiritualis 1 omittit et, pro quo Vat. aut.Several codices read or it is; the Vatican edition and editions 1 and 3 read comes, or. Below, before spiritual, edition 1 omits and, for which the Vatican edition reads or.
- 5E addit tamen. Inferius pro limitare C terminare, et vocibus et personas plures codd. interserunt inter.E adds nevertheless. Below, for to limit C reads to terminate; and between the words and persons several codices insert among.
- 6Matth. 19, 6: Quod [ita etiam E K M] ergo Deus coniunxit, homo non separe[?]Matt. 19:6: What [so also E, K, M] therefore God has joined together, let not man separ[?] ---