Whether an Angel Merits His Beatitude?
Objection 1: It would seem that the angel did not merit his beatitude.
For merit arises from the difficulty of the meritorious act. But the
angel experienced no difficulty in acting rightly. Therefore righteous
action was not meritorious for him.
Obj. 2: Further, we do not merit by merely natural operations. But it
was quite natural for the angel to turn to God. Therefore he did not
thereby merit beatitude.
Obj. 3: Further, if a beatified angel merited his beatitude, he did
so either before he had it, or else afterwards. But it was not
before; because, in the opinion of many, he had no grace before
whereby to merit it. Nor did he merit it afterwards, because thus he
would be meriting it now; which is clearly false, because in that
case a lower angel could by meriting rise up to the rank of a higher,
and the distinct degrees of grace would not be permanent; which is
not admissible. Consequently the angel did not merit his beatitude.
_On the contrary,_ It is stated (Apoc. 21:17) that the "measure of
the angel" in that heavenly Jerusalem is "the measure of a man."
Therefore the same is the case with the angel.
_I answer that,_ Perfect beatitude is natural only to God, because
existence and beatitude are one and the same thing in Him. Beatitude,
however, is not of the nature of the creature, but is its end. Now
everything attains its last end by its operation. Such operation
leading to the end is either productive of the end, when such end is
not beyond the power of the agent working for the end, as the healing
art is productive of health; or else it is deserving of the end, when
such end is beyond the capacity of the agent striving to attain it;
wherefore it is looked for from another's bestowing. Now it is
evident from what has gone before (AA. 1, 2; Q. 12, AA. 4, 5),
ultimate beatitude exceeds both the angelic and the human nature. It
remains, then, that both man and angel merited their beatitude.
And if the angel was created in grace, without which there is no
merit, there would be no difficulty in saying that he merited
beatitude: as also, if one were to say that he had grace in any way
before he had glory.
But if he had no grace before entering upon beatitude, it would then
have to be said that he had beatitude without merit, even as we have
grace. This, however, is quite foreign to the idea of beatitude; which
conveys the notion of an end, and is the reward of virtue, as even the
Philosopher says (Ethic. i, 9). Or else it will have to be said, as
some others have maintained, that the angels merit beatitude by their
present ministrations, while in beatitude. This is quite contrary,
again, to the notion of merit: since merit conveys the idea of a means
to an end; while what is already in its end cannot, properly speaking,
be moved towards such end; and so no one merits to produce what he
already enjoys. Or else it will have to be said that one and the same
act of turning to God, so far as it comes of free-will, is
meritorious; and so far as it attains the end, is the fruition of
beatitude. Even this view will not stand, because free-will is not the
sufficient cause of merit; and, consequently, an act cannot be
meritorious as coming from free-will, except in so far as it is
informed by grace; but it cannot at the same time be informed by
imperfect grace, which is the principle of meriting, and by perfect
grace, which is the principle of enjoying. Hence it does not appear to
be possible for anyone to enjoy beatitude, and at the same time to
merit it.
Consequently it is better to say that the angel had grace ere he was
admitted to beatitude, and that by such grace he merited beatitude.
Reply Obj. 1: The angel's difficulty of working righteously does not
come from any contrariety or hindrance of natural powers; but from
the fact that the good work is beyond his natural capacity.
Reply Obj. 2: An angel did not merit beatitude by natural movement
towards God; but by the movement of charity, which comes of grace.
The answer to the Third Objection is evident from what we have said.
_______________________