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Commentary on John 203:18Thomas AquinasThomas’ understanding of the hypostatic union rests squarely on his basic principle that in all creatures esse is other than essence. Only in God are esse and his essence identical (see Sum. theol. I, q.3, a.4, and all parallel places). Fr. Norbert Del Prado, O.P., has called this so-called real distinction between essence and existence in creatures “The Fundamental Truth of Christian Philosophy” (1911). It is only because human nature does not include esse in its definition (nature, or essence) that Christ’s human nature cannot have an esse proper to it as human. It is the real distinction between essence and existence ( esse ) in creatures that underlies Thomas’ teaching in III, q. 17.June 6:2The Roman MartyrologyHoly Norbert, Archbishop of Magdeburg, founder of the Order of the Premonstratensian Canons Regular.