Treasury of merit

The treasury of merit or treasury of the Church (thesaurus ecclesiae; Greek: θησαυρός, thesaurós, treasure; Greek: ἐκκλησία, ekklēsía‚ convening, congregation, parish) consists, according to Catholic belief, of the merits of Jesus Christ and his faithful, a treasury that because of the communion of saints benefits others too.^[1] According to the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, this Catholic belief is a way of expressing the view that the good works done by Jesus and others can benefit other people, and "contemporary Roman Catholic theologians see it as a metaphor for ways in which the faith of Christ and the saints helps others".^[2]