302 SISTER M. JOCELYN 



that it exists " barely and in an obscure way " ^* and Saint 

 Thomas speaks of it as an " utcuTnque ens," ^^ a kind of being, 

 an imperfect being. 



Its perfection, the existence of its parts, past and future, is 

 not realized without the operation of the soul. The power of 

 retaining the past in memory and of looking ahead to the 

 future requires an intellect. "... the totality itself of time is 

 obtained through the ordination of the soul numbering the 

 prior and posterior in motion . . ." ^" 



It is this aspect which was viewed by the authors cited at 

 the beginning of this article. What they failed to see was the 

 claim time had to some real being in the actuality of the instant 

 which continuously unites the past and future since it is the 

 term of the past and principle of the future. 



Sister M. Jocelyn, O.P. 



Rosary College 



River Forest, Illinois 



=* Ibid., TV, c. 10, 217b32-33. 



-^ St. Thomas, In IV Phys., lect. 23, n. 5. 



=^« Ibid. 



