as said above (A. 1, ad 3), He made nothing afterwards that had not
existed previously, in some degree, in the first works; secondly,
because He Himself had no need of the things that He had made, but was
happy in the fruition of Himself. Hence, when all things were made He
is not said to have rested "in" His works, as though needing them for
His own happiness, but to have rested "from" them, as in fact resting
in Himself, as He suffices for Himself and fulfils His own desire. And
even though from all eternity He rested in Himself, yet the rest in
Himself, which He took after He had finished His works, is that rest
which belongs to the seventh day. And this, says Augustine, is the
meaning of God's resting from His works on that day (Gen. ad lit. iv).

Reply Obj. 1: God indeed "worketh until now" by preserving and
providing for the creatures He has made, but not by the making of
new ones.

Reply Obj. 2: Rest is here not opposed to labor or to movement, but
to the production of new creatures, and to the desire tending to an
external object.

Reply Obj. 3: Even as God rests in Himself alone and is happy in the
enjoyment of Himself, so our own sole happiness lies in the enjoyment
of God. Thus, also, He makes us find rest in Himself, both from His
works and our own. It is not, then, unreasonable to say that God
rested in giving rest to us. Still, this explanation must not be set
down as the only one, and the other is the first and principal
explanation.
_______________________

THIRD ARTICLE [I, Q. 73, Art. 3]

Whether Blessing and Sanctifying Are Due to the Seventh Day?

Objection 1: It would seem that blessing and sanctifying are not due
to the seventh day. For it is usual to call a time blessed or holy for
that some good thing has happened in it, or some evil been avoided.
But whether God works or ceases from work nothing accrues to Him or is
lost to Him. Therefore no special blessing or sanctifying are due to
the seventh day.

Obj. 2: Further, the Latin "benedictio" [blessing] is derived from
"bonitas" [goodness]. But it is the nature of good to spread and
communicate itself, as Dionysius says (Div. Nom. iv). The days,
therefore, in which God produced creatures deserved a blessing rather
than the day on which He ceased producing them.

Obj. 3: Further, over each creature a blessing was pronounced, as
upon each work it was said, "God saw that it was good." Therefore it
was not necessary that after all had been