From St. Thomas Aquinas' "Of Man's Various Duties and States in General" Observe today Church's Duties and States in General

In the twelfth volume (QQ 171-189) from the second part of the second part of Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas discusses gratuitous graces, life and states. Since prophecy, rapture, tongues and miracles are supernatural graces, that is, God's gratuitous blessings to those who serve the interests of the church and men, here we are not to talk about gratuitous graces. The topic of this article is "man's various duties and states." The first part of this article is to reflect on the duties and states of the church today in the light of Aquinas's "Of Man's Various Duties and States in General." The second part, "of the Episcopal state," compares the thought of Aquinas from more than seven centuries ago with the Episcopal state today. The third part is on the religious state. Does the religious state in Summa Theologica mean the state of perfection? Do the ideas pertaining to the religious state in Summa Theologica correspond to those of the church today? Regarding the poverty, continency and obedience of religious orders, we will discuss the life of three vows in the church today in the light of Aquinas's treatise.