 Treasury of merit

The treasury of merit or treasury of the Church ("thesaurus ecclesiae"; , "thesaurós", treasure; , "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.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".