Thomas Aquinas, on 1Tim 4:5

“For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

“The reason for this is that if it were evil it would only be so, because the Devil had acquired power over it after man's sin: for as a result of man's sin the Devil obtained power over man and over the things that man owns. But Christ took away this power: and this is called sanctification. Consequently, everything we bless is thereby exorcised, because the blessing includes a prayer expelling the Devil. That is why the Apostle says, it is sanctified by the Word of God, i.e., by Christ, who sanctifies all things, and by the prayer of the faithful: for the continual prayer of a just man avails much (Jas 5:16).”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.