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Objection 1: It would seem that it was proper for the Blessed
Virgin, after Christ, to be sanctified in the womb. For it has
been said (Article 4) that the Blessed Virgin was sanctified in
the womb, in order that she might be worthy to be the mother of God.
But this is proper to her. Therefore she alone was sanctified in the
womb.
Objection 2: Further, some men seem to have been more closely
connected with Christ than Jeremias and John the Baptist, who are
said to have been sanctified in the womb. For Christ is specially
called the Son of David and of Abraham, by reason of the promise
specially made to them concerning Christ. Isaias also prophesied of
Christ in the most express terms. And the apostles were in converse
with Christ Himself. And yet these are not mentioned as having been
sanctified in the womb. Therefore it was not befitting that either
Jeremias or John the Baptist should be sanctified in the womb.
Objection 3: Further, Job says of himself (Job 31:18):
"From my infancy mercy grew up with me; and it came out with me from
[my mother's] womb." Nevertheless we do not for this reason say
that he was sanctified in the womb. Neither therefore are we bound to
say that Jeremias and John the Baptist were sanctified in the womb.
On the contrary, It is written of Jeremias (Jer. 1:5):
"Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee." And
of John the Baptist it is written (Lk. 1:15): "He shall be
filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb."
I answer that, Augustine (Ep. ad Dardan.) seems to speak
dubiously of their (Jeremias' and John the Baptist's)
sanctification in the womb. For the leaping of John in the womb
"might," as he says, "signify the great truth," viz. that the
woman was the mother of God, "which was to be made known to his
elders, though as yet unknown to the infant. Hence in the Gospel it
is written, not that the infant in her womb believed, but that it
'leaped': and our eyes are witness that not only infants leap but
also cattle. But this was unwonted because it was in the womb. And
therefore, just as other miracles are wont to be done, this was done
divinely, in the infant; not humanly by the infant. Perhaps also in
this child the use of reason and will was so far accelerated that while
yet in his mother's womb he was able to acknowledge, believe, and
consent, whereas in other children we have to wait for these things
till they grow older: this again I count as a miraculous result of the
divine power."
But since it is expressly said (of John) in the Gospel that "he
shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb";
and of Jeremias, "Before thou camest forth out of the womb, I
sanctified thee"; it seems that we must needs assert that they were
sanctified in the womb, although, while in the womb, they had not the
use of reason (which is the point discussed by Augustine); just as
neither do children enjoy the use of free will as soon as they are
sanctified by baptism.
Nor are we to believe that any others, not mentioned by Scripture,
were sanctified in the womb. For such privileges of grace, which are
bestowed on some, outside the common law, are ordered for the
salvation of others, according to 1 Cor. 12:7: "The
manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit," which
would not result from the sanctification of anyone unless it were made
known to the Church.
And although it is not possible to assign a reason for God's
judgments, for instance, why He bestows such a grace on one and not
on another, yet there seems to be a certain fittingness in both of
these being sanctified in the womb, by their foreshadowing the
sanctification which was to be effected through Christ. First, as to
His Passion, according to Heb. 13:12: "Jesus, that He
might sanctify the people by His own blood, suffered without the
gate": which Passion Jeremias foretold openly by words and by
symbols, and most clearly foreshadowed by his own sufferings.
Secondly, as to His Baptism (1 Cor. 6:11): "But you are
washed, but you are sanctified"; to which Baptism John prepared men
by his baptism.
Reply to Objection 1: The blessed Virgin, who was chosen by God
to be His Mother, received a fuller grace of sanctification than
John the Baptist and Jeremias, who were chosen to foreshadow in a
special way the sanctification effected by Christ. A sign of this is
that it was granted to the Blessed Virgin thence-forward never to sin
either mortally or venially: whereas to the others who were thus
sanctified it was granted thenceforward not to sin mortally, through
the protection of God's grace.
Reply to Objection 2: In other respects these saints might be more
closely united to Christ than Jeremias and John the Baptist. But
the latter were most closely united to Him by clearly foreshadowing
His sanctification, as explained above.
Reply to Objection 3: The mercy of which Job speaks is not the
infused virtue; but a certain natural inclination to the act of that
virtue.
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