Treasury of Merit

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Greetings! I’m wondering if someone can give me some information on the Treasury of Merit, and provide some Scripture and Church Father references?

Thanks,

Cody
 
Greetings! I’m wondering if someone can give me some information on the Treasury of Merit, and provide some Scripture and Church Father references?

Thanks,

Cody
In a simple answer, the treasury of merit is a treasury of reward not strict earning except for Jesus Christ who merited in a strict sense eternal life for us. Mary and the Saints merited (were rewarded) by God beyond what God had asked them to do. If a Saint goes beyond what God asks of him/her for eternal life and displays not just virtue in their life but supernatural virtue, God rewards them beyond what He asked and it is those “rewards” which is only given to them through God’s grace, that the Catholic Church through the power of the keys (Mt 16:15-19) can delve into these rewards and apply them to us under certain parameters; i.e. we are free from sin and do acts of charity of some sort. As we cooperate with His grace He gives us more grace, so to be overgraced if you will for a lack of a better word is to receive rewards beyond God’s asking which is the treasury of merit. Anyway, hope I’ve not confused you more.
 
A follow up question I have on the Treasury, as I’m re-reading some of the previous posts, do the effects of the merits apply to those in Purgatory or those of us on Earth? Also, what exactly do the saints merits do for us?
 
Cody,

To answer your first question, both. The Treasury of Merit (aka Treasury of Satisfactions) is what the Chruch draws from when she grants Indulgences. Since Indulgences entail the remission of temporal punishment due to sin (for sins already forgiven), they can be applied to anyone suffering temporal punishment, which would be those of us on earth as well as those in Purgatory.

To answer your second question, the merits of the saints help us in that they are part of what makes up the Treasury of Merit (which is what we draw upon for the remission of temporal punishment due to sin). The Treasury is primarily made up of the infinite value that the merits of Christ have before God. Added to these are the superabundant merits of Mary and the saints.

I’ll put up a more detailed explanation of this on my blog within the next day or so. Be sure to check it out.

kepha7.blogspot.com/

Sincerely in Christ,

Todd
 
Here’s a more detailed explanation of the Treasury of Merit and Indulgences. Its long, so I had to put it in two parts.

Part 1
Part 2
 
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