Saturday, August 29, 2009

Q117 A2: Whether man can teach the angels?

No. Angels are never enlightened by men concerning Divine things because in the same way as inferior angels are subject to the superior, the highest men are subject even to the lowest angels.

Non Angeli instruuntur per homines de divinis quia eo modo quo inferiores Angeli superioribus subduntur, supremi homines subduntur etiam infimis Angelorum.

But men can by means of speech make known to angels the thoughts of their hearts, because it belongs to God alone to know the heart's secrets.

Cogitationes tamen suorum cordium homines Angelis per modum locutionis manifestare possunt, quia secreta cordium scire solius Dei est.

When the mysteries of Christ and the Church were fulfilled by the apostles, some things concerning these mysteries became apparent to the angels, which were hidden from them before.

Dum per apostolos impleta sunt Christi et Ecclesiae mysteria, Angelis aliqua apparuerunt de huiusmodi mysteriis, quae ante erant eis occulta.

The apostles were instructed immediately by the Word of God, not according to His Divinity, but according as He spoke in His human nature.

Apostoli instruebantur immediate a verbo Dei, non secundum eius divinitatem, sed inquantum eius humanitas loquebatur.

Certain men in this state of life are greater than certain angels, not actually, but virtually; forasmuch as they have such great charity that they can merit a higher degree of beatitude than that possessed by certain angels. In the same way we might say that the seed of a great tree is virtually greater than a small tree, though actually it is much smaller.

Aliqui homines, etiam in statu viae, sunt maiores aliquibus Angelis, non quidem actu, sed virtute; inquantum scilicet habent caritatem tantae virtutis, ut possint mereri maiorem beatitudinis gradum quam quidam Angeli habeant. Sicut si dicamus semen alicuius magnae arboris esse maius virtute quam aliquam parvam arborem, cum tamen multo minus sit in actu.