Therefore Christ merited in the first instant of His conception. Which movement, indeed, of the free-will is meritorious. Consequently, Christ did merit in the first instant of His conception. That which man has at the first moment of his creation, in the ordinary course of nature, is natural to him. In this way did Christ's soul in the first instant of its creation receive grace by which it could merit.
Nothing prevents the same thing belonging to someone from several causes.
For merit precedes reward, as fault precedes punishment. Since, therefore, the state of comprehension is the principal reward, it seems that Christ was not a comprehensor in the first instant of His conception. But glory belongs to the state of comprehension. Therefore Christ was not in the state of comprehension in the first instant of His conception, when as yet He had not suffered. Therefore Christ, as man, was not in the state of beatitude in the first instant of His conception.