The inseparable unity of “Charis and Charisma,” that is, of sanctifying grace and the task of sanctification, was [a thesis I] first asserted against the (only partially defensible) tradition to the contrary in an extensive commentary on St. Thomas’ tractate, Summa Theologica II—II, 171-82, on charisms. This commentary treats historically and critically the three theological loci of such phenomena: namely, Old and New Testament prophecy, the gifts of the Holy Spirit as supernatural and experiential perfection of the Christian virtues and the interrelationship between contemplation and action. These three are opened out and set into relationship to one another.

Hans Urs von Balthasar in My Work in Retrospect,1965

The first edition of this work, published in 1954, was volume 23 of the Kerle-Pustet edition of the Summa Theologica and was devoted to questions 171-182 of the II-II.