Texts Illustrating the Causality of the Sacraments from William of Melitona, Assisi Bibl. Comm. 182, and Brussels Bibl. Royale 1542

TEXTS ILLUSTRATING THE CAUSALITY OF THE SACRAMENTS FROM WILLIAM OF MELITONA, ASSISI BIBL. COMM. 182, AND BRUSSELS BIBL. ROYALE 1542 The three following texts which we present here to illustrate the causality of the sacraments are taken from William of Melitona in his Quaestiones de sacramentis,1 Assist Bibl. Comm. 182,2 ff. 78V—79V, and Brussels, Bibl. Royale 1542,3 ff. 181 r. There is already not a little literature on each of these documents, and since we do not strive here to present any further clarification of the problems involved, we simply refer the reader to what has already been published. As it appears to us, the importance of the texts lies in this, that they illustrate the physical dispositive theory of the causality of the sacraments in what we might call its first self-realization. The problem is well developed, the fundamental reasons for its existence are well brought to light, and the mind of God with respect to the nature and function of a sacrament in the sanctification of man is opened up to us after the convictions of the theology of the time. St. Thomas was to come later on to utilize this theory, and to expand, clarify and develop the notion of the sacrament as an instrument of grace, the theory 1 With reference to the Quaestiones of William of Melitona, we may confer P. Glorieux, Répertoire des Maîtres en Théologie de Paris au XIII siècle, (Paris, 1933) II, n. 304; Summa Fratris Alexandri, Prolegomena, Ad Claras Aquas, 1948 (V. Doucet, O. F. M.), p. 240 et passim; K. Lynch.O.F.M., "The Alleged Fourth Book of Odo Rigaud and Related Documents," in Franciscan Studies, 9 (1949) pp. 87 ff.; and our recent study, TAe Sacrament of Confirmation in the Early-Middle Scholastic Period, Franciscan Institute Publications, Theology Series n. 5, (St. Bonaventure — Louvain — Paderborn ) 1957, PP- XLIII ff. 2 On Assist Bibl. Comm. 182, cf. Summa Fratris Alexandri, Prolegomena, p. 144 ff. where an ample bibliography is given. Cf. also The Sacrament of Confirmation, pp. LXV et passim. 3 With reference to Brussels Bibl. Roy. 1542 cf. Summa Fratris Alexandri, Prolegomena, p. 228; E. Lio, O.F.M., Franziskanische Studien, 1951, p. 385ft. ; "The Alleged Fourth Book of Odo Rigaud and related Documents" in Franciscan Studies, loe cit.: V. Doucet, Commentaires sur les Sentences, supplément au Répertoire de M. Frédéric Stegmüller, Ad Claras Aquas, 1954, p. 64. With reference to this codex we may likewise consult Magistri Alexandri de Hales, Glossa in Quatuor Libros Sententiarum Petri Lombardi, vol. I (Bibliotheca Franciscana Medii Aevi, t. XII), pp. 76, 97, 99 and vol. IV, (!957)- P- 6, 27 (cf. index). 238 Causality of the Sacraments239 of physical instrumental causality. But within the texts edited here the restlessness which brought the theory into existence and brought it to its first maturity already meets us. From a literary point of view, the amazing similarity of Assist 182 and the Quaestiones vf Melitona arrest our attention. There is little, very little, of an exact verbal concordance between the two texts; yet, over a very large part of each there is a manifest similarity of argument and thought, Melitona, of course, posing the items of his argument in his own strictly personal style. Which is the dependant, and who the author of Assist 182 with respect to the present matter may be,4 remains an open question. Brussels Bibl. Roy. 1542 arranges over again the matter of the questions of Melitona, and is included here since it adds some originality in expanding the material of its source according to a definite pattern, namely, drawing out the endings of the different responses. The same material finds its ultimate setting in the Quarta Pars of the Summa Fratris Alexandri (Summa Alexandri Halensis), where it is englobed in a compilation with other material. We have indicated in the footnotes where the repetition of the Quaestiones of Melitona occurs in the Summa. As to the dating of the material edited here, before 1250 may be the best date to assign; Assist 182 shows such an amazing affinity to the Quaestiones of Melitona that...