Sect. 246Nature of the SacramentsNature of the Sacraments
I. Just as God has been pleased to command that men should worship Him by certain external acts which are called sacrifices, so His Divine Son has been pleased to ordain that grace should be applied to our souls by other external acts which are called sacraments. The same principle is the foundation of both. Man is composed of body and soul; both belong to God; both co-operate in virtue and in sin; hence both should take part in Divine worship, and both should be joined in sanctification. The notion of a sacrament as an act, and as an external act should be borne in mind throughout. It is something done, not something made. Sacraments, indeed, are usually styled things (res); but as acts come under the designation of things, and as the word “act” conveys a specific meaning, it is better to use it here. Again, man has a supernatural as well as a natural life, and his supernatural acts have an analogy with those which are natural. He is born, he is nourished, and he dies, both naturally and supernaturally. Our Lord, in instituting the sacraments, took certain natural acts of our everyday life, capable in themselves of producing only a natural effect, and raised them, when performed with certain distinguishing marks, to a supernatural sphere, making them capable of producing a supernatural effect.
II. The terms “matter” and “form” were not applied to the sacraments until the beginning of the thirteenth century. The Fathers, indeed, often speak of the form of a sacrament; but they mean thereby the whole external rite in contradistinction to the inward grace, of which the rite is the sign and cause. Even writers as late as Hugh of St. Victor (†1141), St. Bernard (†1153), and the Lombard (†1164), do not make use of the terms; nor are they found in the decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215). As soon, however, as the Aristotelian metaphysic found its way into the Christian schools, it was but natural that its grand distinction of matter and form should be applied to the things which are eminently the province of theology, viz. the sacraments. Here it seemed easy to distinguish the two elements. The familiar quotation from St. Augustine (Tract., lxxx. in Joan., n. 3) seemed to have been an anticipation of the new terminology: “Quid est aqua nisi aqua? Accedit verbum ad elementum et fit sacramentum.” No wonder, then, that the terms were readily accepted by both the rival schools of Scotists and Thomists, and were used at Constance (Contra Wicl. et Hus.), Florence (Decr, pro Armenis), and Trent (sess. xiv. capp. 2, 3; De Extr. Unct., cap. i).
Much diversity of opinion arose, however, when the distinction came to be applied to each sacrament in turn. These different opinions will be noted in due course. Here it will be enough to observe that when the Schoolmen speak of the matter and form of the sacraments, they cannot mean that the sacraments are material, corporeal things. What they mean is that just as bodies are composed of two constituents, the one indeterminate and the other determining, so too in the sacraments two elements, the one indeterminate and the other determining, can be distinguished; and that these may rightly be called matter and form. The latter term is not likely to mislead us, because there is nothing corresponding with shape or figure in the sacraments; but the English word “matter” unfortunately suggests something tangible; and, as there is something of this kind in several of the sacraments, it has given rise to a false notion of its meaning. The natural acts (e.g. washing, anointing, etc.) are the matter of the sacraments, the distinguishing marks are the form; that is to say, the natural act is the indeterminate element, while the distinguishing mark is that which determines it to be a sacrament (St. Thom. 3, q. 64, a. 8). The sacraments are not, indeed, natural signs; on the other hand, they are not merely arbitrary signs. The natural act has some analogy with some particular kind of grace, and hence is suitable for being selected by Christ to convey that grace; and, as a fact, has been so selected by Him. As St. Augustine says, “If the sacraments had no likeness to the things of which they are the sacraments, they would not be sacraments at all” (Ep. 98, n. 9). And Hugh of St. Victor speaks of them as “representing by likeness, and signifying by institution” (De Sacram., lib. i. part 9, c. 2).
III. The Council of Trent has defined that the sacraments of the New Law are not merely external signs of grace; but actually confer the grace which they signify, and confer it of themselves (ex opere operato) (sess. vii. cann. 6, 8). The minister and the recipient, indeed, play an important part, as will be explained later on (infra, p. 366); but the sacraments themselves are the true causes of the grace.
I. Holy Scripture testifies to this doctrine in many passages. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16); “Unless a man be born again of (ἐξ) water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5); “Do penance and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38); “Be baptized and wash away thy sins” (ibid. 22:16); “They laid their hands upon them and they received the Holy Ghost; and when Simon saw that by (διὰ) the imposition of the hands of the Apostles the Holy Ghost was given,” etc. (ibid. 8:17, 18); “Stir up the grace which is in thee by (διὰ) the imposition of my hands” (2 Tim. 1:6); “Not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5); “Christ also loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life (τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν ῥήματι)” (Eph. 5:25, 26).
2. Many passages to the same effect may be quoted from the Fathers. Thus Tertullian says, “Happy the sacrament of our water, whereby (qua), being cleansed from the sins of our former blindness, we are made free unto eternal life.… We poor little fishes, following after our ἰχθύς, Jesus Christ, are born in water; nor are we safe except by abiding in the water.… What then? Is it not wonderful that death should be washed away by a bath?” (De Bapt., cc. 1, 2.) And St. Gregory of Nyssa: “Baptism is the cleansing away of sins; the remission of transgressions; the cause of renovation and regeneration.… Should any one ask me how water regenerates, and as to the mystic initiation effected by it, I shall say to him with just reason, ‘Show me the way in which we are born according to the flesh, and I will explain to thee the power of that second birth which is according to the spirit’ “ (In Bapt. Christi). See also St. John Chrysostom, Hom. 25 in Joann.; St. Cyril of Alexandria, Lib. 2 in Joann.; St. Leo, Serm. 4 De Nativ. Domini; St. Augustine, Tract. 80 in Joann., n. 3. In the Nicene Creed, too, we confess “one baptism unto (εἰς) the remission of sins.” Cf. the Council of Milevis, ch. 2; the Second Council of Orange, can. 5.
3. This doctrine is likewise proved by the constant practice of the Church. Unless the sacrament could of itself give grace, it would be useless to confer Baptism on infants, or on those who have lost their reason, or on the unconscious. Formerly it was the custom throughout the whole Church, and is so still in the Eastern Church, to confer not only Baptism but the Holy Eucharist and Confirmation on infants.
On the celebrated scholastic discussion as to whether the sacraments are the physical or moral causes of grace, see Franzelin, De Sacram., thes. x.; Drouin, De Re Sacram., q. iv. cap. 2.
Scholion. Before the coming of Christ there must have been both in the law of nature and in the Mosaic Law some remedy at least for original sin. St. Augustine found this remedy, as far as the Mosaic Law was concerned, in circumcision (De Nupt. et Concup., lib. ii. c. 11; De Bapt., lib. iv. c. 24). The Latin Fathers and Schoolmen, following his views, speak of “sacraments of the Old Law”—an expression adopted by the Councils of Florence and Trent. The latter Council condemns the opinion of Calvin that the sacraments of the Old Law and the sacraments of the New Law differ only in the outward rite (sess. vii., De Sacr., can. 2). The common teaching is that the former could not give grace ex opere operato, whereas the latter can. See St. Thomas, 3, q. 62, a. 6; Drouin, De Re Sacr., q. ii.
I. Just as God has been pleased to command that men should worship Him by certain external acts which are called sacrifices, so His Divine Son has been pleased to ordain that grace should be applied to our souls by other external acts which are called sacraments. The same principle is the foundation of both. Man is composed of body and soul; both belong to God; both co-operate in virtue and in sin; hence both should take part in Divine worship, and both should be joined in sanctification. The notion of a sacrament as an act, and as an external act should be borne in mind throughout. It is something done, not something made. Sacraments, indeed, are usually styled things (res); but as acts come under the designation of things, and as the word “act” conveys a specific meaning, it is better to use it here. Again, man has a supernatural as well as a natural life, and his supernatural acts have an analogy with those which are natural. He is born, he is nourished, and he dies, both naturally and supernaturally. Our Lord, in instituting the sacraments, took certain natural acts of our everyday life, capable in themselves of producing only a natural effect, and raised them, when performed with certain distinguishing marks, to a supernatural sphere, making them capable of producing a supernatural effect.
II. The terms “matter” and “form” were not applied to the sacraments until the beginning of the thirteenth century. The Fathers, indeed, often speak of the form of a sacrament; but they mean thereby the whole external rite in contradistinction to the inward grace, of which the rite is the sign and cause. Even writers as late as Hugh of St. Victor (†1141), St. Bernard (†1153), and the Lombard (†1164), do not make use of the terms; nor are they found in the decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215). As soon, however, as the Aristotelian metaphysic found its way into the Christian schools, it was but natural that its grand distinction of matter and form should be applied to the things which are eminently the province of theology, viz. the sacraments. Here it seemed easy to distinguish the two elements. The familiar quotation from St. Augustine (Tract., lxxx. in Joan., n. 3) seemed to have been an anticipation of the new terminology: “Quid est aqua nisi aqua? Accedit verbum ad elementum et fit sacramentum.” No wonder, then, that the terms were readily accepted by both the rival schools of Scotists and Thomists, and were used at Constance (Contra Wicl. et Hus.), Florence (Decr, pro Armenis), and Trent (sess. xiv. capp. 2, 3; De Extr. Unct., cap. i).
Much diversity of opinion arose, however, when the distinction came to be applied to each sacrament in turn. These different opinions will be noted in due course. Here it will be enough to observe that when the Schoolmen speak of the matter and form of the sacraments, they cannot mean that the sacraments are material, corporeal things. What they mean is that just as bodies are composed of two constituents, the one indeterminate and the other determining, so too in the sacraments two elements, the one indeterminate and the other determining, can be distinguished; and that these may rightly be called matter and form. The latter term is not likely to mislead us, because there is nothing corresponding with shape or figure in the sacraments; but the English word “matter” unfortunately suggests something tangible; and, as there is something of this kind in several of the sacraments, it has given rise to a false notion of its meaning. The natural acts (e.g. washing, anointing, etc.) are the matter of the sacraments, the distinguishing marks are the form; that is to say, the natural act is the indeterminate element, while the distinguishing mark is that which determines it to be a sacrament (St. Thom. 3, q. 64, a. 8). The sacraments are not, indeed, natural signs; on the other hand, they are not merely arbitrary signs. The natural act has some analogy with some particular kind of grace, and hence is suitable for being selected by Christ to convey that grace; and, as a fact, has been so selected by Him. As St. Augustine says, “If the sacraments had no likeness to the things of which they are the sacraments, they would not be sacraments at all” (Ep. 98, n. 9). And Hugh of St. Victor speaks of them as “representing by likeness, and signifying by institution” (De Sacram., lib. i. part 9, c. 2).
III. The Council of Trent has defined that the sacraments of the New Law are not merely external signs of grace; but actually confer the grace which they signify, and confer it of themselves (ex opere operato) (sess. vii. cann. 6, 8). The minister and the recipient, indeed, play an important part, as will be explained later on (infra, p. 366); but the sacraments themselves are the true causes of the grace.
I. Holy Scripture testifies to this doctrine in many passages. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16); “Unless a man be born again of (ἐξ) water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5); “Do penance and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38); “Be baptized and wash away thy sins” (ibid. 22:16); “They laid their hands upon them and they received the Holy Ghost; and when Simon saw that by (διὰ) the imposition of the hands of the Apostles the Holy Ghost was given,” etc. (ibid. 8:17, 18); “Stir up the grace which is in thee by (διὰ) the imposition of my hands” (2 Tim. 1:6); “Not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us by the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5); “Christ also loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life (τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν ῥήματι)” (Eph. 5:25, 26).
2. Many passages to the same effect may be quoted from the Fathers. Thus Tertullian says, “Happy the sacrament of our water, whereby (qua), being cleansed from the sins of our former blindness, we are made free unto eternal life.… We poor little fishes, following after our ἰχθύς, Jesus Christ, are born in water; nor are we safe except by abiding in the water.… What then? Is it not wonderful that death should be washed away by a bath?” (De Bapt., cc. 1, 2.) And St. Gregory of Nyssa: “Baptism is the cleansing away of sins; the remission of transgressions; the cause of renovation and regeneration.… Should any one ask me how water regenerates, and as to the mystic initiation effected by it, I shall say to him with just reason, ‘Show me the way in which we are born according to the flesh, and I will explain to thee the power of that second birth which is according to the spirit’ “ (In Bapt. Christi). See also St. John Chrysostom, Hom. 25 in Joann.; St. Cyril of Alexandria, Lib. 2 in Joann.; St. Leo, Serm. 4 De Nativ. Domini; St. Augustine, Tract. 80 in Joann., n. 3. In the Nicene Creed, too, we confess “one baptism unto (εἰς) the remission of sins.” Cf. the Council of Milevis, ch. 2; the Second Council of Orange, can. 5.
3. This doctrine is likewise proved by the constant practice of the Church. Unless the sacrament could of itself give grace, it would be useless to confer Baptism on infants, or on those who have lost their reason, or on the unconscious. Formerly it was the custom throughout the whole Church, and is so still in the Eastern Church, to confer not only Baptism but the Holy Eucharist and Confirmation on infants.
On the celebrated scholastic discussion as to whether the sacraments are the physical or moral causes of grace, see Franzelin, De Sacram., thes. x.; Drouin, De Re Sacram., q. iv. cap. 2.
Scholion. Before the coming of Christ there must have been both in the law of nature and in the Mosaic Law some remedy at least for original sin. St. Augustine found this remedy, as far as the Mosaic Law was concerned, in circumcision (De Nupt. et Concup., lib. ii. c. 11; De Bapt., lib. iv. c. 24). The Latin Fathers and Schoolmen, following his views, speak of “sacraments of the Old Law”—an expression adopted by the Councils of Florence and Trent. The latter Council condemns the opinion of Calvin that the sacraments of the Old Law and the sacraments of the New Law differ only in the outward rite (sess. vii., De Sacr., can. 2). The common teaching is that the former could not give grace ex opere operato, whereas the latter can. See St. Thomas, 3, q. 62, a. 6; Drouin, De Re Sacr., q. ii.
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