t together with this eternal filiation we understand a certain
temporal relation dependent on the mother, in respect of which
relation Christ is called the Son of His Mother.

Reply Obj. 3: One and being are mutually consequent, as is said
_Metaph._ iv. Therefore, just as it happens that in one of the
extremes of a relation there is something real, whereas in the other
there is not something real, but merely a certain aspect, as the
Philosopher observes of knowledge and the thing known; so also it
happens that on the part of one extreme there is one relation,
whereas on the part of the other there are many. Thus in man on the
part of his parents there is a twofold relation, the one of
paternity, the other of motherhood, which are specifically diverse,
inasmuch as the father is the principle of generation in one way, and
the mother in another (whereas if many be the principle of one action
and in the same way--for instance, if many together draw a ship
along--there would be one and the same relation in all of them); but
on the part of the child there is but one filiation in reality,
though there be two in aspect, corresponding to the two relations in
the parents, as considered by the intellect. And thus in one way
there is only one real filiation in Christ, which is in respect of
the Eternal Father: yet there is another temporal relation in regard
to His temporal mother.
_______________________

SIXTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 35, Art. 6]

Whether Christ Was Born Without His Mother Suffering?

Objection 1: It would seem that Christ was not born without His
Mother suffering. For just as man's death was a result of the sin of
our first parents, according to Gen. 2:17: "In what day soever ye
shall eat, ye shall [Vulg.: 'thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt] die";
so were the pains of childbirth, according to Gen. 3:16: "In sorrow
shalt thou bring forth children." But Christ was willing to undergo
death. Therefore for the same reason it seems that His birth should
have been with pain.

Obj. 2: Further, the end is proportionate to the beginning. But
Christ ended His life in pain, according to Isa. 53:4: "Surely . . .
He hath carried our sorrows." Therefore it seems that His nativity
was not without the pains of childbirth.

Obj. 3: Further, in the book on the birth of our Saviour
[*Protevangelium Jacobi xix, xx] it is related that midwives were
present at Christ's birth; and they would be wanted by reason of the
mother's sufferin