de; 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.
_______________________

FIFTH ARTICLE [I, Q. 62, Art. 5]

Whether the Angel Obtained Beatitude Immediately After One Act of
Merit?

Objection 1: It would seem that the angel did not possess beatitude
instantly after one act of merit. For it is more difficult for a man
to do well than for an angel. But man is not rewarded at once after
one act of merit. Therefore neither was the angel.

Obj. 2: Further, an angel could act at once, and in an instant, from
the very outset of his creation, for even natural bodies begin to be
moved in the very instant of their creation; and if the movement of a
body could be instantaneous, like operations of mind and will, it
would have movement in the first instant of its generation.
Consequently, if th