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After writing these few questions of the treatise on Penance, St.
Thomas was called to the heavenly reward which he had merited by
writing so well of his Divine Master. The remainder of the Summa
Theologica, known as the Supplement, was compiled probably by Fra
Rainaldo da Piperno, companion and friend of the Angelic Doctor,
and was gathered from St. Thomas's commentary on the Fourth Book
of the Sentences of Peter Lombard. This commentary was written in
the years 1235-1253, while St. Thomas was under thirty
years of age. Everywhere it reveals the influence of him whom St.
Thomas always called the Master. But that influence was not to be
always supreme. That the mind of the Angelic Doctor moved forward to
positions which directly contradicted the Master may be seen by any
student of the Summa Theologica. The compiler of the Supplement was
evidently well acquainted with the commentary on the Sentences, which
had been in circulation for some twenty years or more, but it is
probable that he was badly acquainted with the Summa Theologica.
This will be realized and must be borne in mind when we read the
Supplement, notably TP, Question 62, Article 1; also
Question 43, Article 3, ad 2 of the Supplement.
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