Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

Objection 1: It would seem that blessing and sanctifying are not due to the seventh day. For it is usual to call a time blessed or holy for that some good thing has happened in it, or some evil been avoided. But whether God works or ceases from work nothing accrues to Him or is lost to Him. Therefore no special blessing or sanctifying are due to the seventh day.

Objection 2: Further, the Latin "benedictio" is derived from "bonitas" . But it is the nature of good to spread and communicate itself, as Dionysius says (Div. Nom. iv). The days, therefore, in which God produced creatures deserved a blessing rather than the day on which He ceased producing them.

Objection 3: Further, over each creature a blessing was pronounced, as upon each work it was said, "God saw that it was good." Therefore it was not necessary that after all had been produced, the seventh day should be blessed.

On the contrary, It is written (Gn. 2:3), "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He had rested from all His work."

I answer that, As said above (Article 2), God's rest on the seventh day is understood in two ways. First, in that He ceased from producing new works, though He still preserves and provides for the creatures He has made. Secondly, in that after all His works He rested in Himself. According to the first meaning, then, a blessing befits the seventh day, since, as we explained (Question 72, ad 4), the blessing referred to the increase by multiplication; for which reason God said to the creatures which He blessed: "Increase and multiply." Now, this increase is effected through God's Providence over His creatures, securing the generation of like from like. And according to the second meaning, it is right that the seventh day should have been sanctified, since the special sanctification of every creature consists in resting in God. For this reason things dedicated to God are said to be sanctified.

Reply to Objection 1: The seventh day is said to be sanctified not because anything can accrue to God, or be taken from Him, but because something is added to creatures by their multiplying, and by their resting in God.

Reply to Objection 2: In the first six days creatures were produced in their first causes, but after being thus produced, they are multiplied and preserved, and this work also belongs to the Divine goodness. And the perfection of this goodness is made most clear by the knowledge that in it alone God finds His own rest, and we may find ours in its fruition.

Reply to Objection 3: The good mentioned in the works of each day belongs to the first institution of nature; but the blessing attached to the seventh day, to its propagation.

Articulus 3

Argumentum 1

Ad tertium sic proceditur. Videtur quod benedictio et sanctificatio non debeatur diei septimae. Tempus enim aliquod consuevit dici benedictum aut sanctum, propter aliquod bonum quod in illo tempore evenit; aut propter hoc quod aliquod malum vitatur sed deo nihil accrescit aut deperit, sive operetur, sive ab operando cesset. Non ergo specialis benedictio et sanctificatio debetur diei septimae.

Argumentum 2

Praeterea, benedictio a bonitate dicitur. Sed bonum est diffusivum et communicativum sui, secundum dionysium.

Ergo magis debuerunt benedici dies in quibus creaturas produxit, quam ille dies in quo a producendis creaturis cessavit.

Argumentum 3

Praeterea, superius in singulis creaturis quaedam benedictio commemorata est, dum in singulis operibus dictum est, vidit deus quod esset bonum. Non oportuit igitur quod post omnium productionem, dies septima benediceretur.

Sed Contra

Sed contra est quod dicitur Gen. II, benedixit deus diei septimo, et sanctificavit illum, quia in illo cessaverat ab omni opere suo.

Corpus

Respondeo dicendum quod, sicut supra dictum est, requies dei in die septima dupliciter accipitur. Primo quidem, quantum ad hoc, quod cessavit a novis operibus condendis, ita tamen quod creaturam conditam conservat et administrat.

Alio modo, secundum quod post opera requievit in seipso.

Quantum ergo ad primum, competit septimae diei benedictio.

Quia, sicut supra dictum est, benedictio ad multiplicationem pertinet, unde dictum est creaturis quas benedixit, crescite et multiplicamini.

Multiplicatio autem rerum fit per administrationem creaturae, secundum quam ex similibus similia generantur. Quantum vero ad secundum, competit septimae diei sanctificatio. Maxime enim sanctificatio cuiuslibet attenditur in hoc quod in deo requiescit, unde et res deo dedicatae sanctae dicuntur.

Ad 1

Ad primum ergo dicendum quod non propter hoc dies septimus sanctificatur, quia deo possit aliquid accrescere vel decrescere, sed quia creaturis aliquid accrescit per multiplicationem et quietem in deo.

Ad 2

Ad secundum dicendum quod in primis sex diebus productae sunt res in suis primis causis. Sed postea ex illis primis causis res multiplicantur et conservantur, quod etiam ad bonitatem divinam pertinet. Cuius etiam perfectio in hoc maxime ostenditur quod in ipsa sola et ipse requiescit, et nos requiescere possumus, ea fruentes.

Ad 3

Ad tertium dicendum quod bonum quod in singulis diebus commemoratur, pertinet ad primam naturae institutionem, benedictio autem diei septimae pertinet ad naturae propagationem.