n of Israel shall not rise; because the sheep that has
once strayed, although the shepherd bring it back on his shoulder,
has not the same glory as if it had never strayed." Therefore man
does not, through Penance, recover his former dignity.

Obj. 2: Further, Jerome says: "Whoever fail to preserve the dignity
of the sacred order, must be content with saving their souls; for it
is a difficult thing to return to their former degree." Again, Pope
Innocent I says (Ep. vi ad Agapit.) that "the canons framed at the
council of Nicaea exclude penitents from even the lowest orders of
clerics." Therefore man does not, through Penance, recover his former
dignity.

Obj. 3: Further, before sinning a man can advance to a higher sacred
order. But this is not permitted to a penitent after his sin, for it
is written (Ezech. 44:10, 13): "The Levites that went away . . . from
Me . . . shall never [Vulg.: 'not'] come near to Me, to do the office
of priest": and as laid down in the Decretals (Dist. 1, ch. 52), and
taken from the council of Lerida: "If those who serve at the Holy
Altar fall suddenly into some deplorable weakness of the flesh, and
by God's mercy do proper penance, let them return to their duties,
yet so as not to receive further promotion." Therefore Penance does
not restore man to his former dignity.

_On the contrary,_ As we read in the same Distinction, Gregory
writing to Secundinus (Regist. vii) says: "We consider that when a
man has made proper satisfaction, he may return to his honorable
position": and moreover we read in the acts of the council of Agde:
"Contumacious clerics, so far as their position allows, should be
corrected by their bishops, so that when Penance has reformed them,
they may recover their degree and dignity."

_I answer that,_ By sin, man loses a twofold dignity, one in respect
of God, the other in respect of the Church. In respect of God he
again loses a twofold dignity. One is his principal dignity, whereby
he was counted among the children of God, and this he recovers by
Penance, which is signified (Luke 15) in the prodigal son, for when
he repented, his father commanded that the first garment should be
restored to him, together with a ring and shoes. The other is his
secondary dignity, viz. innocence, of which, as we read in the same
chapter, the elder son boasted saying (Luke 15:29): "Behold, for so
many years do I serve thee, and I have never transgressed thy
commandments": and this digni