ession of my faith, that I may ever possess the
Father--namely Thyself: that I may adore Thy Son together with Thee:
and that I may deserve Thy Holy Spirit, who is through Thy Only
Begotten."

_I answer that,_ Whenever one is said to act through another, this
preposition "through" points out, in what is covered by it, some cause
or principle of that act. But since action is a mean between the agent
and the thing done, sometimes that which is covered by the preposition
"through" is the cause of the action, as proceeding from the agent;
and in that case it is the cause of why the agent acts, whether it be
a final cause or a formal cause, whether it be effective or motive. It
is a final cause when we say, for instance, that the artisan works
through love of gain. It is a formal cause when we say that he works
through his art. It is a motive cause when we say that he works
through the command of another. Sometimes, however, that which is
covered by this preposition "through" is the cause of the action
regarded as terminated in the thing done; as, for instance, when we
say, the artisan acts through the mallet, for this does not mean that
the mallet is the cause why the artisan acts, but that it is the cause
why the thing made proceeds from the artisan, and that it has even
this effect from the artisan. This is why it is sometimes said that
this preposition "through" sometimes denotes direct authority, as when
we say, the king works through the bailiff; and sometimes indirect
authority, as when we say, the bailiff works through the king.

Therefore, because the Son receives from the Father that the Holy
Ghost proceeds from Him, it can be said that the Father spirates the
Holy Ghost through the Son, or that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the
Father through the Son, which has the same meaning.

Reply Obj. 1: In every action two things are to be considered, the
_suppositum_ acting, and the power whereby it acts; as, for instance,
fire heats through heat. So if we consider in the Father and the Son
the power whereby they spirate the Holy Ghost, there is no mean, for
this is one and the same power. But if we consider the persons
themselves spirating, then, as the Holy Ghost proceeds both from the
Father and from the Son, the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father
immediately, as from Him, and mediately, as from the Son; and thus He
is said to proceed from the Father through the Son. So also did Abel
proceed immediately from Adam, in