like any other greater good, is a matter of counsel.’[4] In replying to the objection that it is lawful for every one to keep what is his own, St. Thomas restates with emphasis the principle of community of user:  ’The temporal goods which are given us by God are ours as to the ownership, but as to the use of them they belong not to us alone, but also to such others as we are able to succour out of what we have over and above our needs.’[5] Albertus Magnus states this in very strong words:  ’For a man to give out of his superfluities is a mere act of justice, because he is rather then steward of them for the poor than the owner;’[6] and at an earlier date St. Peter Damian had affirmed that ’he who gives to the poor returns what he does not himself own, and does not dispose of his own goods.’  He insists in the same passage that almsgiving is not an act of mercy, but of strict justice.[7] In the reply to another objection the duty of almsgiving is stated by Aquinas with additional vigour.  ’There is a time when we sin mortally if we omit to give alms—­on the part of the recipient when we see that his need is evident and urgent, and that he is not likely to be succoured otherwise—­on the part of the giver when he has superfluous goods, which he does not need for the time being, so far as he can judge with probability.’[8]

[Footnote 1:  II. ii. 32, 1.]

[Footnote 2:  Ibid., ad. 4.]

[Footnote 3:  II. ii. 32, art. 2.]

[Footnote 4:  II. ii. 32, art. 5.]

[Footnote 5:  Ibid., ad. 2.]

[Footnote 6:  Jarrett, Mediaeval Socialism, p. 87.]

[Footnote 7:  De Eleemosynis, cap. 1.]

[Footnote 8:  II. ii. 32, 5, ad. 3.]

The next question which St. Thomas discusses is whether one ought to give alms out of what one needs.  He distinguishes between two kinds of ‘necessaries.’  The first is that without which existence is impossible, out of which kind of necessary things one is not bound to give alms save in exceptional cases, when, by doing so, one would be helping a great personage or supporting the Church or the State, since ‘the common good is to be preferred to one’s own.’  The second kind of necessaries are those things without which a man cannot live in keeping with his social station.  St. Thomas recommends the giving of alms out of this part of one’s estate, but points out that it is only a matter of counsel, and not of precept, and one must not give alms to such an extent as to impoverish oneself permanently.  To this last provision, however, there are three exceptions:  one, when a man is entering religion and giving away all his goods; two, when he can easily replace what he gives away; and, three, when he is in presence of great indigence on the part of an individual, or great need on the part of the common weal.  In these three cases it is praiseworthy for a man to forgo the requisites of his station in order to provide for a greater need.[1]