Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

Objection 1: It would seem that the invisible mission of the divine person is not only according to the gift of sanctifying grace. For the sending of a divine person means that He is given. Hence if the divine person is sent only according to the gift of sanctifying grace, the divine person Himself will not be given, but only His gifts; and this is the error of those who say that the Holy Ghost is not given, but that His gifts are given.

Objection 2: Further, this preposition, "according to," denotes the habitude of some cause. But the divine person is the cause why the gift of sanctifying grace is possessed, and not conversely, according to Rm. 5:5, "the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, Who is given to us." Therefore it is improperly said that the divine person is sent according to the gift of sanctifying grace.

Objection 3: Further, Augustine says (De Trin. iv, 20) that "the Son, when temporally perceived by the mind, is sent." But the Son is known not only by sanctifying grace, but also by gratuitous grace, as by faith and knowledge. Therefore the divine person is not sent only according to the gift of sanctifying grace.

Objection 4: Further, Rabanus says that the Holy Ghost was given to the apostles for the working of miracles. This, however, is not a gift of sanctifying grace, but a gratuitous grace. Therefore the divine person is not given only according to the gift of sanctifying grace.

On the contrary, Augustine says (De Trin. iii, 4) that "the Holy Ghost proceeds temporally for the creature's sanctification." But mission is a temporal procession. Since then the creature's sanctification is by sanctifying grace, it follows that the mission of the divine person is only by sanctifying grace.

I answer that, The divine person is fittingly sent in the sense that He exists newly in any one; and He is given as possessed by anyone; and neither of these is otherwise than by sanctifying grace.

For God is in all things by His essence, power and presence, according to His one common mode, as the cause existing in the effects which participate in His goodness. Above and beyond this common mode, however, there is one special mode belonging to the rational nature wherein God is said to be present as the object known is in the knower, and the beloved in the lover. And since the rational creature by its operation of knowledge and love attains to God Himself, according to this special mode God is said not only to exist in the rational creature but also to dwell therein as in His own temple. So no other effect can be put down as the reason why the divine person is in the rational creature in a new mode, except sanctifying grace. Hence, the divine person is sent, and proceeds temporally only according to sanctifying grace.

Again, we are said to possess only what we can freely use or enjoy: and to have the power of enjoying the divine person can only be according to sanctifying grace. And yet the Holy Ghost is possessed by man, and dwells within him, in the very gift itself of sanctifying grace. Hence the Holy Ghost Himself is given and sent.

Reply to Objection 1: By the gift of sanctifying grace the rational creature is perfected so that it can freely use not only the created gift itself, but enjoy also the divine person Himself; and so the invisible mission takes place according to the gift of sanctifying grace; and yet the divine person Himself is given.

Reply to Objection 2: Sanctifying grace disposes the soul to possess the divine person; and this is signified when it is said that the Holy Ghost is given according to the gift of grace. Nevertheless the gift itself of grace is from the Holy Ghost; which is meant by the words, "the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost."

Reply to Objection 3: Although the Son can be known by us according to other effects, yet neither does He dwell in us, nor is He possessed by us according to those effects.

Reply to Objection 4: The working of miracles manifests sanctifying grace as also does the gift of prophecy and any other gratuitous graces. Hence gratuitous grace is called the "manifestation of the Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:7). So the Holy Ghost is said to be given to the apostles for the working of miracles, because sanctifying grace was given to them with the outward sign. Were the sign only of sanctifying grace given to them without the grace itself, it would not be simply said that the Holy Ghost was given, except with some qualifying term; just as we read of certain ones receiving the gift of the spirit of prophecy, or of miracles, as having from the Holy Ghost the power of prophesying or of working miracles.

Articulus 3

Argumentum 1

Ad tertium sic proceditur. Videtur quod missio invisibilis divinae personae non sit solum secundum donum gratiae gratum facientis. Divinam enim personam mitti, est ipsam donari.

Si igitur divina persona mittitur solum secundum dona gratiae gratum facientis, non donabitur ipsa persona divina, sed solum dona eius.

Quod est error dicentium spiritum sanctum non dari, sed eius dona.

Argumentum 2

Praeterea, haec praepositio secundum denotat habitudinem alicuius causae. Sed persona divina est causa quod habeatur donum gratiae gratum facientis, et non e converso; secundum illud Rom. V, caritas dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis.

Ergo inconvenienter dicitur quod persona divina secundum dona gratiae gratum facientis mittatur.

Argumentum 3

Praeterea, Augustinus dicit, IV de Trin., quod filius, cum ex tempore mente percipitur, mitti dicitur.

Sed filius cognoscitur non solum per gratiam gratum facientem, sed etiam per gratiam gratis datam, sicut per fidem et per scientiam. Non ergo persona divina mittitur secundum solam gratiam gratum facientem.

Argumentum 4

Praeterea, Rabanus dicit quod spiritus sanctus datus est apostolis ad operationem miraculorum.

Hoc autem non est donum gratiae gratum facientis, sed gratiae gratis datae. Ergo persona divina non solum datur secundum gratiam gratum facientem.

Sed Contra

Sed contra est quod Augustinus dicit, XV de Trin., quod spiritus sanctus procedit temporaliter ad sanctificandam creaturam.

Missio autem est temporalis processio. Cum igitur sanctificatio creaturae non sit nisi per gratiam gratum facientem, sequitur quod missio divinae personae non sit nisi per gratiam gratum facientem.

Corpus

Respondeo dicendum quod divinae personae convenit mitti, secundum quod novo modo existit in aliquo; dari autem, secundum quod habetur ab aliquo. Neutrum autem horum est nisi secundum gratiam gratum facientem. Est enim unus communis modus quo deus est in omnibus rebus per essentiam, potentiam et praesentiam, sicut causa in effectibus participantibus bonitatem ipsius. Super istum modum autem communem, est unus specialis, qui convenit creaturae rationali, in qua deus dicitur esse sicut cognitum in cognoscente et amatum in amante. Et quia, cognoscendo et amando, creatura rationalis sua operatione attingit ad ipsum deum, secundum istum specialem modum deus non solum dicitur esse in creatura rationali, sed etiam habitare in ea sicut in templo suo. Sic igitur nullus alius effectus potest esse ratio quod divina persona sit novo modo in rationali creatura, nisi gratia gratum faciens. Unde secundum solam gratiam gratum facientem, mittitur et procedit temporaliter persona divina. Similiter illud solum habere dicimur, quo libere possumus uti vel frui. Habere autem potestatem fruendi divina persona, est solum secundum gratiam gratum facientem. Sed tamen in ipso dono gratiae gratum facientis, spiritus sanctus habetur, et inhabitat hominem. Unde ipsemet spiritus sanctus datur et mittitur.

Ad 1

Ad primum ergo dicendum quod per donum gratiae gratum facientis perficitur creatura rationalis, ad hoc quod libere non solum ipso dono creato utatur, sed ut ipsa divina persona fruatur.

Et ideo missio invisibilis fit secundum donum gratiae gratum facientis, et tamen ipsa persona divina datur.

Ad 2

Ad secundum dicendum quod gratia gratum faciens disponit animam ad habendam divinam personam, et significatur hoc, cum dicitur quod spiritus sanctus datur secundum donum gratiae. Sed tamen ipsum donum gratiae est a spiritu sancto, et hoc significatur, cum dicitur quod caritas dei diffunditur in cordibus nostris per spiritum sanctum.

Ad 3

Ad tertium dicendum quod, licet per aliquos effectus filius cognosci possit a nobis, non tamen per aliquos effectus nos inhabitat, vel etiam habetur a nobis.

Ad 4

Ad quartum dicendum quod operatio miraculorum est manifestativa gratiae gratum facientis, sicut et donum prophetiae, et quaelibet gratia gratis data. Unde I Cor. XII, gratia gratis data nominatur manifestatio spiritus.

Sic igitur apostolis dicitur datus spiritus sanctus ad operationem miraculorum, quia data est eis gratia gratum faciens cum signo manifestante. Si autem daretur solum signum gratiae gratum facientis sine gratia, non diceretur dari simpliciter spiritus sanctus; nisi forte cum aliqua determinatione, secundum quod dicitur quod alicui datur spiritus propheticus vel miraculorum, inquantum a spiritu sancto habet virtutem prophetandi vel miracula faciendi.