Merit (Catholicism)
Merit (Latin meritum), in general, is understood to be that property of a good work which entitles the doer to receive a reward (prœmium, merces) from him in whose service the work is done. By antonomastic usage, the word has come to designate also the good work itself, insofar as it deserves a reward from the person in whose service it was performed.
In Catholic theology, a supernatural merit can only be a salutary act to which God in consequence of his infallible promise may give a reward.
Read more about Merit (Catholicism): Nature of Merit, Disputes, Conditions of Merit
Famous quotes containing the word merit:
“Amongst the learned the lawyers claim first place, the most self-satisfied class of people, as they roll their rock of Sisyphus and string together six hundred laws in the same breath, no matter whether relevant or not, piling up opinion on opinion and gloss on gloss to make their profession seem the most difficult of all. Anything which causes trouble has special merit in their eyes.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)