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Summa Theologiae · Suppl., q. 40, a. 3

Whether by receiving the tonsure a man renounces temporal goods?

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Supplement, question 40, Of the Things Annexed to the Sacrament of Order, article 3. About 2 min.

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From the Supplement, compiled after Aquinas’s death from his Commentary on the Sentences and transcribed here from the 1917 to 1922 printings. About the Supplement.

Text: Summa Theologiae, Supplement to the Third Part (Supplementum Tertiae Partis), transcribed from Internet Archive scans, translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province. The Supplement, compiled after Aquinas’s death from his earlier Commentary on the Sentences, in the same English Dominican translation as the Gutenberg Parts. Transcribed by Bibliotheca Catholica from the OCR of four Internet Archive scans of the pre-1931 printings (Questions 1 to 33 from the 1917 Washbourne and Benziger volume, 34 to 68 from the 1922 volume, 69 to 86 from the 1921 volume, and 87 to 99 from the 1922 Benziger volume), with OCR errors corrected and doubtful passages marked, not rewritten. 99 questions and 446 articles. The two appendices printed after Question 99 are not included. Sources, SHA-256 of each OCR file, and the method are in the source record. Rights: Public domain (US)

The Supplement is not a Project Gutenberg text. It is Bibliotheca Catholica’s transcription of public-domain scans at the Internet Archive; obvious OCR errors were corrected, and passages marked “OCR uncertain” could not be confidently corrected, so check them against the linked scan page.

Objection 1: It would seem that men renounce temporal goods by receiving the tonsure, for when they are tonsured they say: The Lord is the portion of my inheritance.

But, as Jerome says [Ep. ad Nepot.), the Lord disdains to be made a portion together with these temporal things. Therefore he renounces temporalities.

Obj. 2: Further, The justice of the ministers of the New Testament ought to abound more than that of the ministers of the Old Testament (Matth. v. 20). But the ministers of the Old Testament, namely the Levites, did not receive a portion of inheritance with their brethren (Deut. x.; xviii.). Therefore neither should the ministers of the New Testament.

Obj. 3: Further, Hugh says (De Sacram. ii.) that after a vian is made a cleric, he must from thenceforward live on the pay of the Church. But this would not be so were he to retain his patrimony. Therefore he would seem to renounce it by becoming a cleric.

0)1 the contrary, Jeremias was of the priestly order (Jer. i. i). Yet he retained possession of his inheritance (ibid. xxxii. 8). Therefore clerics can retain their patrimony.

Further, If this were not so there would seem to be no difference between religious and the secular clergy.

I answer that, Clerics by receiving the tonsure, do not renounce their patrimony or other temporalities; since the possession of earthly things is not contrary to the Divine worship to which clerics are appointed, although excessive care for such things is; for as Gregory says [Moral, x.), it is not wealth but the love of wealth that is sinful.

Reply Obj. 1: The Lord disdains to be a portion as being loved equally with other things, so that a man place his end in God and the things of the world. He does not, however, disdain to be the portion of those who so possess the things of the world as not to be withdrawn thereby from the Div.ne worship.

Reply Obj. 2: In the Old Testament the Levites had a right to their paternal inheritance; and the reason why they did not receive a portion with the other tribes was because they were scattered throughout all the tribes, which would have been impossible if, like the other tribes, they had received one fixed portion of the soil.

IIl. 5 5

Refly Obj., 3. Clerics promoted to holy Orders, if they be poor, must be provided for by the bishop who ordained them; otherwise he is not so bound. And they are bound to minister to the Church in the Order they have received. The words of Hugh refer to those who have no means of livelihood.

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Also online, linked only: the same translation at New Advent and the Latin text at Corpus Thomisticum. Neither is copied here.

Source: Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica, Supplement to the Third Part. Internet Archive scans: Third Part, Fourth Number (QQ. LXXXIV to Suppl. XXXIII), 1917, Third Part (Supplement), QQ. XXXIV to LXVIII, 1922, Third Part (Supplement), QQ. LXIX to LXXXVI, 1921, and Third Part (Supplement), QQ. LXXXVII to XCIX and Appendices, 1922; two curled pages of the 1921 volume are read from another scan of the same printing. Public domain in the USA. Printed in 1917, 1921, and 1922, before 1931. Outside the U.S., check local copyright rules. Transcription, OCR file checksums, and method: source record.