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THE SACRAMENTS
Importance
of Instruction on the Sacraments
The Word "Sacrament"
Definition
of a Sacrament
"A Sacrament is a Sign"
Proof From Reason
Proof From Scripture
"Sign of a Sacred Thing": Kind of
Sign Meant Here
Natural Signs
Signs Invented By
Man
Signs Instituted By God
Kind of Sacred Thing Meant Here
Other Sacred Things Signified
by the Sacraments
All
the Sacraments Signify Something Present,
Something Past, Something Future
A Sacrament Sometimes Signifies
the Presence of
More Than One Thing
Why the Sacraments
Were Instituted
Constituent Parts of the Sacraments
Ceremonies Used in the Administration of the
Sacraments
The Number
of the Sacraments
Comparisons
Among the Sacraments
The Author of the Sacraments
The Ministers of the Sacraments
Unworthiness
of the Minister and Validity
Lawfulness
of Administration
Effects of the Sacraments
First Effect: Justifying Grace
Second Effect: Sacramental Character
How to Make Instruction on the Sacraments
Profitable
THE SACRAMENTS
Importance
of Instruction on the Sacraments
The exposition of every part of Christian doctrine
demands knowledge and industry on the part of the pastor. But
instruction on the Sacraments, which, by the ordinance of God, are a
necessary means of salvation and a plenteous source of spiritual
advantage, demands in a special manner his talents and industry By
accurate and frequent instruction (on the Sacraments) the faithful will
be enabled to approach worthily and with salutary effect these
inestimable and most holy institutions; and the priests will not depart
from the rule laid down in the divine prohibition: Give not that which
is holy to dogs: neither cast ye your pearls before swine.
The Word "Sacrament"
Since, then, we are about to treat of the
Sacraments in general, it is proper to begin in the first place by
explaining the force and meaning of the word Sacrament, and showing its
various significations, in order the more easily to comprehend the sense
in which it is here used. The faithful, therefore, are to be informed
that the word Sacrament, in so far as it concerns our present purpose,
is differently understood by sacred and profane writers.
By some it has been used to express the obligation
which arises from an oath, pledging to the performance of some service;
and hence the oath by which soldiers promise military service to the
State has been called a military sacrament. Among profane writers this
seems to have been the most ordinary meaning of the word.
But by the Latin Fathers who have written on
theological subjects, the word sacrament is used to signify a sacred
thing which lies concealed. The Greeks, to express the same idea, made
use of the word mystery. This we understand to be the meaning of the
word, when, in the Epistle to the Ephesians, it is said: That he might
make known to us the mystery (sacramentum) of his will; and to Timothy:
great is the mystery (sacramentum) of godliness; and in the Book of
Wisdom: They knew not the secrets (sacramenta) of God. In these and many
other passages the word sacrament, it will be perceived, signifies
nothing more than a holy thing that lies concealed and hidden.
The Latin Doctors, therefore, deemed the word a
very appropriate term to express certain sensible signs which at once
communicate grace, declare it, and, as it were, place it before the
eyes. St. Gregory, however, is of the opinion that such a sign is called
a Sacrament, because the divine power secretly operates our salvation
under the veil of sensible things.
Let it not, however, be supposed that the word
sacrament is of recent ecclesiastical usage. Whoever peruses the works
of Saints Jerome and Augustine will at once perceive that ancient
ecclesiastical writers made use of the word sacrament, and some times
also of the word symbol, or mystical sign or sacred sign, to designate
that of which we here speak.
So much will suffice in explanation of the word
sacrament. What we have said applies equally to the Sacraments of the
Old Law; but since they have been superseded by the Gospel Law and
grace, it is not necessary that pastors give instruction concerning
them.
Definition of a Sacrament
Besides the meaning of the word, which has
hitherto engaged our attention, the nature and efficacy of the thing
which the word signifies must be diligently considered, and the faithful
must be taught what constitutes a Sacrament. No one can doubt that the
Sacraments are among the means of attaining righteousness and salvation.
But of the many definitions, each of them sufficiently appropriate,
which may serve to explain the nature of a Sacrament, there is none more
comprehensive, none more perspicuous, than the definition given by St.
Augustine and adopted by all scholastic writers. A Sacrament, he says,
is a sign of a sacred thing; or, as it has been expressed in other words
of the same import: A Sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible grace,
instituted for our justification.
"A Sacrament is a Sign"
The more fully to develop this definition, the
pastor should explain it in all its parts. He should first observe that
sensible objects are of two sorts: some have been invented precisely to
serve as signs; others have been established not for the sake of
signifying something else, but for their own sakes alone. To the latter
class almost every object in nature may be said to belong; to the
former, spoken and written languages, military standards, images,
trumpets, signals and a multiplicity of other things of the same sort.
Thus with regard to words; take away their power of expressing ideas,
and you seem to take away the only reason for their invention. Such
things are, therefore, properly called signs. For, according to St.
Augustine, a sign, besides what it presents to the senses, is a medium
through which we arrive at the knowledge of something else. From a
footstep, for instance, which we see traced on the ground, we instantly
infer that some one whose trace appears has passed.
Proof From Reason
A Sacrament, therefore, is clearly to be numbered
among those things which have been instituted as signs. It makes known
to us by a certain appearance and resemblance that which God, by His
invisible power, accomplishes in our souls. Let us illustrate what we
have said by an example. Baptism, for instance, which is administered by
external ablution, accompanied with certain solemn words, signifies that
by the power of the Holy Ghost all stain and defilement of sin is
inwardly washed away, and that the soul is enriched and adorned with the
admirable gift of heavenly justification; while, at the same time, the
bodily washing, as we shall hereafter explain in its proper place,
accomplishes in the soul that which it signifies.
Proof From Scripture
That a Sacrament is to be numbered among signs is
clearly inferred also from Scripture. Speaking of circumcision, a
Sacrament of the Old Law which was given to Abraham, the father of all
believers, the Apostle in his Epistle to the Romans, says: And he
received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the justice of the faith.
In another place he says: All we who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are
baptized in his death, words which justify the inference that Baptism
signifies, to use the words of the same Apostle, that we are buried
together with him by baptism into death.
Nor is it unimportant that the faithful should
know that the Sacraments are signs. This knowledge will lead them more
readily to believe that what the Sacraments signify, contain and effect
is holy and august; and recognizing their sanctity they will be more
disposed to venerate and adore the beneficence of God displayed towards
us.
"Sign of a Sacred Thing": Kind of
Sign Meant Here
We now come to explain the words, sacred thing,
which constitute the second part of the definition. To render this
explanation satisfactory we must enter somewhat more minutely into the
accurate and acute remarks of St. Augustine on the variety of signs.
Natural Signs
Some signs are called natural. These, besides
making themselves known to us, also convey a knowledge of something
else, an effect, as we have already said, common to all signs. Smoke,
for instance, is a natural sign from which we immediately infer the
existence of fire. It is called a natural sign, because it implies the
existence of fire, not by arbitrary institution, but from experience. If
we see smoke, we are at once convinced of the presence of fire, even
though it is hidden.
Signs Invented By
Man
Other signs are not natural, but conventional, and
are invented by men to enable them to converse one with another, to
convey their thoughts to others, and in turn to learn the opinions and
receive the advice of other men. The variety and multiplicity of such
signs may be inferred from the fact that some belong to the eyes, many
to the ears, and the rest to the other senses. Thus when we intimate any
thing to another by such a sensible sign as the raising of a flag, it is
obvious that such intimation is conveyed only through the medium of the
eyes; and it is equally obvious that the sound of the trumpet, of the
lute and of the lyre - instruments which are not only sources of
pleasure, but frequently signs of ideas - is addressed to the ear.
Through the latter sense especially are also conveyed words, which are
the best medium of communicating our inmost thoughts.
Signs Instituted By God
Besides the signs instituted by the will and
agreement of men, of which we have been speaking so far, there are
certain other signs appointed by God. These latter, as all admit, are
not all of the same kind. Some were instituted by God to indicate
something or to bring back its recollection. Such were the purifications
of the Law, the unleavened bread, and many other things which belonged
to the ceremonies of the Mosaic worship. But God has appointed other
signs with power not only to signify, but also to accomplish (what they
signify).
Among these are manifestly to be numbered the
Sacraments of the New Law. They are signs instituted not by man but by
God, which we firmly believe have in themselves the power of producing
the sacred effects of which they are the signs.
Kind of Sacred Thing Meant Here
We have seen that there are many kinds of signs.
The sacred thing referred to is also of more than one kind. As regards
the definition already given of a Sacrament, theologians prove that by
the words sacred thing is to be understood the grace of God, which
sanctifies the soul and adorns it with the habit of all the divine
virtues; and of this grace they rightly consider the words sacred thing,
an appropriate appellation, because by its salutary influence the soul
is consecrated and united to God.
In order, therefore, to explain more fully the
nature of a Sacrament, it should be taught that it is a sensible object
which possesses, by divine institution, the power not only of
signifying, but also of accomplishing holiness and righteousness. Hence
it follows, as everyone can easily see, that the images of the Saints,
crosses and the like, although signs of sacred things, cannot be called
Sacraments. That such is the nature of a Sacrament is easily proved by
the example of all the Sacraments, if we apply to the others what has
been already said of Baptism; namely, that the solemn ablution of the
body not only signifies, but has power to effect a sacred thing which is
wrought interiorly by the operation of the Holy Ghost.
Other Sacred Things Signified
by the Sacraments
Now it is especially appropriate that these
mystical signs, instituted by God, should signify by the appointment of
the Lord not only one thing, but several things at once.
All
the Sacraments Signify Something Present,
Something Past, Something Future
This applies to all the Sacraments; for all of
them declare not only our sanctity and justification, but also two other
things most intimately connected with sanctification, namely, the
Passion of Christ our Redeemer, which is the source of our
sanctification, and also eternal life and heavenly bliss, which are the
end of sanctification. Such, then, being the nature of all the
Sacraments, holy Doctors justly hold that each of them has a threefold
significance: they remind us of something past; they indicate and point
out something present; they foretell something future.
Nor should it be supposed that this teaching of
the Doctors is unsupported by the testimony of Holy Scripture. When the
Apostle says: All we who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in
his death, he gives us clearly to understand that Baptism is called a
sign, because it reminds us of the death and Passion of our Lord. When
he says, We are buried together with him by baptism into death; that as
Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so, we also
may walk in newness of life, he also clearly shows that Baptism is a
sign which indicates the infusion of divine grace into our souls, which
enables us to lead a new life and to perform all the duties of true
piety with ease and cheerfulness. Finally, when he adds: If we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the
likeness of his resurrection, he teaches that Baptism clearly
foreshadows eternal life also, which we are to reach through its
efficacy.
A Sacrament Sometimes Signifies
the Presence of
More Than One Thing
Besides the different significations already
mentioned, a Sacrament also not infrequently indicates and marks the
presence of more than one thing. This we readily perceive when we
reflect that the Holy Eucharist at once signifies the presence of the
real Body and Blood of Christ and the grace which it imparts to the
worthy receiver of the sacred mysteries.
What has been said, therefore, cannot fail to
supply the pastor with arguments to prove how much the power of God is
displayed, how many hidden miracles are contained in the Sacraments of
the New Law; that thus all may understand that they are to be venerated
and received with utmost devotion.
Why the Sacraments
Were Instituted
Of all the means employed to teach the proper use
of the Sacraments, there is none more effectual than a careful
exposition of the reasons of their institution. Many such reasons are
commonly assigned.
The first of these reasons is the feebleness of
the human mind. We are so constituted by nature that no one can aspire
to mental and intellectual knowledge unless through the medium of
sensible objects. In order, therefore, that we might more easily
understand what is accomplished by the hidden power of God, the same
sovereign Creator of the universe has most wisely, and out of His tender
kindness towards us, ordained that His power should be manifested to us
through the intervention of certain sensible signs. As St. Chrysostom
happily expresses it: If man were not clothed with a material body,
these good things would have been presented to him naked and without any
covering; but as the soul is joined to the body, it was absolutely
necessary to employ sensible things in order to assist in making them
understood.
Another reason is because the mind yields a
reluctant assent to promises. Hence, from the beginning of the world,
God was accustomed to indicate, and usually in words, that which He had
resolved to do; but sometimes, when designing to execute something, the
magnitude of which might weaken a belief in its accomplishment, He added
to words other signs, which sometimes appeared miraculous. When, for
instance, God sent Moses to deliver the people of Israel, and Moses,
distrusting the help even of God who had commissioned him, feared that
the burden imposed was heavier than he could bear, or that the people
would not heed his message, the Lord confirmed His promise by a great
variety of signs. As, then, in the Old Law, God ordained that every
important promise should be confirmed by certain signs, so in the New
Law, Christ our Savior, when He promised pardon of sin, divine grace,
the communication of the Holy Spirit, instituted certain visible and
sensible signs by which He might oblige Himself, as it were, by pledges,
and make it impossible to doubt that He would be true to His promises.
A third reason is that the Sacraments, to use the
words of St. Ambrose, may be at hand, as the remedies and medicines of
the Samaritan in the Gospel, to preserve or recover the health of the
soul. For, through the Sacraments, as through a channel, must flow into
the soul the efficacy of the Passion of Christ, that is, the grace which
He merited for us on the altar of the cross, and without which we cannot
hope for salvation. Hence, our most merciful Lord has bequeathed to His
Church, Sacraments stamped with the sanction of His word and promise,
through which, provided we make pious and devout use of these remedies,
we firmly believe that the fruit of His Passion is really communicated
to us.
A fourth reason why the institution of the
Sacraments seems necessary is that there may be certain marks and
symbols to distinguish the faithful; particularly since, as St.
Augustine observes, no society of men, professing a true or a false
religion, can be, so to speak, consolidated into one body, unless united
and held together by some bond of sensible signs. Both these objects the
Sacraments of the New Law accomplish, distinguishing the Christian from
the infidel, and uniting the faithful by a sort of sacred bond.
Another very just cause for the institution of the
Sacraments may be shown from the words of the Apostle: With the heart we
believe unto justice; but with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. By approaching them we make a public profession of our faith
in the sight of men. Thus, when we approach Baptism, we openly profess
our belief that, by virtue of its salutary waters in which we are
washed, the soul is spiritually cleansed.
The Sacraments have also great influence, not only
in exciting and exercising our faith, but also in inflaming that charity
with which we should love one another, when we recollect that, by
partaking of these mysteries in common, we are knit together in the
closest bonds and are made members of one body.
A final consideration, which is of greatest
importance for the life of a Christian, is that the Sacraments repress
and subdue the pride of the human heart, and exercise us in the practice
of humility; for they oblige us to subject ourselves to sensible
elements in obedience to God, from whom we had before impiously revolted
in order to serve the elements of the world.
These are the chief points that appeared to us
necessary for the instruction of the faithful on the name, nature, and
institution of a Sacrament. When they shall have been accurately
expounded by the pastor, his next duty will be to explain the
constituents of each Sacrament, its parts, and the rites and ceremonies
which have been added to its administration.
Constituent Parts of the Sacraments
In the first place, then, it should be explained
that the sensible thing which enters into the definition of a Sacrament
as already given, although constituting but one sign, is twofold. Every
Sacrament consists of two things, matter, which is called the element,
and form, which is commonly called the word.
This is the doctrine of the Fathers of the Church;
and the testimony of St. Augustine on the subject is familiar to all.
The word, he says, is joined to the element and it becomes a Sacrament.
By the words sensible thing, therefore, the Fathers understand not only
the matter or element, such as water in Baptism, chrism in confirmation,
and oil in Extreme Unction, all of which fall under the eye; but also
the words which constitute the form, and which are addressed to the ear.
Both are clearly pointed out by the Apostle, when
he says: Christ 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. Here both the matter and form of the Sacrament are expressly
mentioned.
In order to make the meaning of the rite that is
being performed easier and clearer, words had to be added to the matter.
For of all signs words are evidently the most significant, and without
them, what the matter for the Sacraments designates and declares would
be utterly obscure. Water, for instance, has the quality of cooling as
well as cleansing, and may be symbolic of either. In Baptism, therefore,
unless the words were added, it would not be certain, but only
conjectural, which signification was intended; but when the words are
added, we immediately understand that the Sacrament possesses and
signifies the power of cleansing.
In this the Sacraments of the New Law excel those
of the Old that, as far as we know, there was no definite form of
administering the latter, and hence they were very uncertain and
obscure. In our Sacraments, on the contrary, the form is so definite
that any, even a casual deviation from it renders the Sacrament null.
Hence the form is expressed in the clearest terms, such as exclude the
possibility of doubt.
These, then, are the parts which belong to the
nature and substance of the Sacraments, and of which every Sacrament is
necessarily composed.
Ceremonies Used in the Administration of the
Sacraments
To (the matter and form) are added certain
ceremonies. These cannot be omitted without sin, unless in case of
necessity; yet, if at any time they be omitted, the Sacrament is not
thereby invalidated, since the ceremonies do not pertain to its essence.
It is not without good reason that the administration of the Sacraments
has been at all times, from the earliest ages of the Church, accompanied
with certain solemn rites.
There is, in the first place, the greatest
propriety in manifesting such a religious reverence to the sacred
mysteries as to make it appear that holy things are handled by holy men.
Secondly, these ceremonies serve to display more
fully the effects of the Sacraments, placing them, as it were, before
our eyes, and to impress more deeply on the minds of the faithful the
sanctity of these sacred institutions.
Thirdly, they elevate to sublime contemplation the
minds of those who behold and observe them with attention, and excite
within them faith and charity.
To enable the faithful, therefore, to know and
understand clearly the meaning of the ceremonies made use of in the
administration of each Sacrament should be an object of special care and
attention.
The Number
of the Sacraments
We now come to explain the number of the
Sacraments. A knowledge of this point is very advantageous to the
faithful; for the greater the number of aids to salvation and the life
of bliss which they understand to have been provided by God, the more
ardent will be the piety with which they will direct all the powers of
their souls to praise and proclaim His singular goodness towards us.
The Sacraments of the Catholic Church are seven in
number, as is proved from Scripture, from the tradition handed down to
us from the Fathers, and from the authority of Councils. Why they are
neither more nor less in number may be shown, at least with some probability, from the analogy that
exists between the natural and the spiritual life. In order to exist, to
preserve existence, and to contribute to his own and to the public good,
seven things seem necessary to man: to be born, to grow, to be nurtured,
to be cured when sick, when weak to be strengthened; as far as regards
the public welfare, to have magistrates invested with authority to
govern, and to perpetuate himself and his species by legitimate
offspring. Now, since it is quite clear that all these things are
sufficiently analogous to that life by which the soul lives to God, we
discover in them a reason to account for the number of the Sacraments.
First comes Baptism, which is the gate, as it
were, to all the other Sacraments, and by which we are born again unto
Christ. The next is Confirmation, by which we grow up and are
strengthened in the grace of God; for, as St. Augustine observes, to the
Apostles who had already received Baptism, the Redeemer said: "Stay
you in the city till you be endued with power from on high." The third
is the Eucharist, that true bread from heaven which nourishes and
sustains our souls to eternal life, according to these words of the
Savior: My flesh is [food] indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. The
fourth is Penance, through which lost health is recovered after we have
been wounded by sin. Next is Extreme Unction, which obliterates the
remains of sin and invigorates the powers of the soul; for speaking of
this Sacrament St. James says: If he be in sins, they shall be forgiven
him. Then follows Holy Orders, by which power is given to exercise
perpetually in the Church the public administration of the Sacraments
and to perform all the sacred functions. The last is Matrimony,
instituted to the end that, by means of the legitimate and holy union of
man and woman, children may be procreated and religiously educated for
the service of God, and for the preservation of the human race.
Comparisons
Among the Sacraments
Though all the Sacraments possess a divine and
admirable efficacy, it is well worthy of special remark that all are not
of equal necessity or of equal dignity, nor is the signification of all
the same.
Among them three are said to be necessary beyond
the rest, although in all three this necessity is not of the same kind.
The universal and absolute necessity of Baptism our Savior has declared
in these words: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Penance, on the other hand, is
necessary for those only who have stained themselves after Baptism by
any mortal guilt. Without sincere repentance, their eternal ruin is
inevitable. Orders, too, although not necessary to each of the faithful,
are of absolute necessity to the Church as a whole.
But if we consider the dignity of the Sacraments,
the Eucharist, for holiness and for the number and greatness of its
mysteries, is far superior to all the rest. These, however, are matters
which will be more easily understood, when we come to explain, in its
proper place, what regards each of the Sacraments.
The Author of the Sacraments
It now remains to inquire from whom we have
received these sacred and divine mysteries. Any gift, however excellent
in itself, undoubtedly receives an increased value from the dignity and
excellence of him by whom it is bestowed.
The present question, however, is not hard to
answer. For since human justification comes from God, and since the
Sacraments are the wonderful instruments of justification, it is evident
that one and the same God in Christ, must be acknowledged to be the
author of justification and of the Sacraments.
Furthermore, the Sacraments contain a power and
efficacy which reach the inmost soul; and as God alone has power to
enter into the hearts and minds of men, He alone, through Christ, is
manifestly the author of the Sacraments.
That they are also interiorly dispensed by Him we
must hold with a firm and certain faith, according to these words of St.
John, in which he declares that he learned this truth concerning Christ:
He who sent me to baptize with water, said to me: He, upon whom thou
shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, he it is that
baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
The Ministers of the Sacraments
But although God is the author and dispenser of
the Sacraments, He nevertheless willed that they should be administered
in His Church by men, not by Angels. To constitute a Sacrament, as the
unbroken tradition of the Fathers testifies, matter and form are not
more necessary than is the ministry of men.
Unworthiness
of the Minister and Validity
Since the ministers of the Sacraments represent in
the discharge of their sacred functions, not their own, but the person
of Christ, be they good or bad, they validly perform and confer the
Sacraments, provided they make use of the matter and form always
observed in the Catholic Church according to the institution of Christ,
and provided they intend to do what the Church does in their
administration. Hence, unless the recipients wish to deprive themselves
of so great a good and resist the Holy Ghost, nothing can prevent them
from receiving (through the Sacraments) the fruit of grace.
That this was, at all times, a fixed and well
ascertained doctrine of the Church, is established beyond all doubt by
St. Augustine, in his disputations against the Donatists. And should we
desire Scriptural proof also, let us listen to these words of the
Apostle: I have planted; Apollo watered; but God gave the increase
Therefore neither he that planteth nor he that watereth is anything, but God who giveth the increase. From these
words it is clear that as trees are not injured by the wickedness of
those who planted them, so those who were planted in Christ by the
ministry of bad men sustain no injury from the guilt of those others.
Judas Iscariot, as the holy Fathers infer from the
Gospel of St. John, conferred Baptism on many; and yet none of those
whom he baptized are recorded to have been baptized again. To use the
memorable words of St. Augustine: Judas baptized, and yet after him none
were rebaptized; John baptized, and after John they were rebaptized.
For the Baptism administered by Judas was the Baptism of Christ, but
that administered by John was the baptism of John. Not that we prefer
Judas to John, but that we justly prefer the Baptism of Christ, although
administered by Judas, to that of John although administered by the
hands of John.
Lawfulness
of Administration
But let not pastors, or other ministers of the
Sacraments, hence infer that they fully acquit themselves of their duty,
if, disregarding integrity of life and purity of morals, they attend
only to the administration of the Sacraments in the manner prescribed.
True, the manner of administering them demands particular diligence; yet
this alone does not constitute all that pertains to that duty. It should
never be forgotten that the Sacraments, although they cannot lose the
divine efficacy inherent in them, bring eternal death and perdition to
him who dares administer them unworthily.
Holy things, it cannot be too often repeated,
should be treated holily and with due reverence. To the sinner, says the
Prophet, God has said: Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my
covenant in thy mouth, seeing that thou hast hated discipline? If then,
for him who is defiled by sin it is unlawful to speak on divine things,
how enormous the guilt of that man, who, conscious of many crimes,
dreads not to accomplish with polluted lips the holy mysteries, to take
them into his befouled hands, to touch them, and to present and administer them to
others? All the more since St. Denis says that the wicked may not even
touch the symbols, as he calls the Sacraments.
It therefore becomes the first duty of the
minister of holy things to follow holiness of life, to approach with
purity the administration of the Sacraments, and so to exercise himself
in piety, that, from their frequent administration and use, he may every
day receive, with the divine assistance, more abundant grace.
Effects of the Sacraments
When these matters have been explained, the
effects of the Sacraments are the next subject of instruction. This
subject should throw considerable light on the definition of a Sacrament
as already given.
First Effect: Justifying Grace
The principal effects of the Sacraments are two.
The first place is rightly held by that grace which we, following the
usage of the holy Doctors, call sanctifying. For so the Apostle most
clearly taught when he said: Christ 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. But how so great and so admirable an
effect is produced by the Sacrament that, to use the well-known saying
of St. Augustine, water cleanses the body and reaches the heart - this,
indeed, cannot be comprehended by human reason and intelligence. It may
be taken for granted that no sensible thing is of its own nature able to
reach the soul; but we know by the light of faith that in the Sacraments
there exists the power of almighty God by which they effect that which
the natural elements cannot of themselves accomplish.
Lest on this subject any doubt should exist in the
minds of the faithful, God, in the abundance of His mercy, was pleased,
from the moment when the Sacraments began to be administered, to
manifest by the evidence of miracles the effects which they operate
interiorly in the soul. (This He did) in order that we may most firmly
believe that the same effects, although far removed from the senses, are
always inwardly produced. To say nothing of the fact that at the Baptism
of the Redeemer in the Jordan the heavens were opened and the Holy Ghost
appeared in the form of a dove, to teach us that when we are washed in
the sacred font His grace is infused into our souls - to omit this,
which has reference rather to the signification of Baptism than to the
administration of the Sacrament - do we not read that on the day of
Pentecost, when the Apostles received the Holy Ghost, by whom they were
thenceforward inspired with greater alacrity and resolution to preach
the faith and brave dangers for the glory of Christ, there came suddenly
a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting, and there appeared to them parted
tongues, as it were, of fire? By this it was understood that in the
Sacrament of Confirmation the same Spirit is given us, and such strength
is imparted as enables us resolutely to encounter and resist our
incessant enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil. For some time in
the beginning of the Church, whenever these Sacraments were administered
by the Apostles, the same miraculous effects were witnessed, and they
ceased only when the faith had acquired maturity and strength.
From what has been said of sanctifying grace, the
first effect of the Sacraments, it clearly follows that there resides in
the Sacraments of the New Law, a virtue more exalted and efficacious
than that of the sacraments of the Old Law. Those ancient sacraments,
being weak and needy elements, sanctified such as were defiled to the
cleansing of the flesh, but not of the spirit. They were, therefore,
instituted only as signs of those things, which were to be accomplished
by our mysteries. The Sacraments of the New Law, on the contrary,
flowing from the side of Christ, who, by the Holy Ghost, offered himself
unspotted unto God, cleanse our consciences from dead works, to serve
the living God, and thus work in us, through the Blood of Christ, the
grace which they signify. Comparing our Sacraments, therefore, with
those of the Old Law we find that they are not only more efficacious,
but also more fruitful in spiritual advantages, and more august in
holiness.
Second Effect: Sacramental Character
The second effect of the Sacraments - which,
however, is not common to all, but peculiar to three, Baptism,
Confirmation, and Holy Orders - is the character which they impress on
the soul. When the Apostle says: God hath anointed us, who also hath
sealed us, and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts, he not
obscurely describes by the word sealed a character, the property of
which is to impress a seal and mark.
This character is, as it were, a distinctive
impression stamped on the soul which perpetually inheres and cannot be
blotted out. Of this St. Augustine says: Shall the Christian Sacraments
accomplish less than the bodily mark impressed on the soldier? That mark
is not stamped on his person anew as often as he resumes the military
service which he had relinquished, but the old one is recognized and
approved.
This character has a twofold effect: it qualifies
us to receive or perform something sacred, and distinguishes us by some
mark one from another. In the character impressed by Baptism, both
effects are exemplified. By it we are qualified to receive the other
Sacraments, and the Christian is distinguished from those who do not
profess the faith. The same illustration is afforded by the characters
impressed by Confirmation and Holy Orders. By Confirmation we are armed
and arrayed as soldiers of Christ, publicly to profess and defend His
name, to fight against our internal enemy and against the spiritual
powers of wickedness in the high places; and at the same time we are
distinguished from those who, being recently baptized, are, as it were,
new-born infants. Holy Orders confers the power of consecrating and
administering the Sacraments, and also distinguishes those who are
invested with this power from the rest of the faithful. The rule of the
Catholic Church is, therefore, to be observed, which teaches that these
three Sacraments impress a character and are never to be repeated.
How to Make Instruction on the Sacraments
Profitable
On the subject of the Sacraments in general, the
above are the matters on which instruction should be given. In
explaining them, pastors should keep in view principally two things,
which they should zealously strive to accomplish. The first is that the
faithful understand the high honor, respect and veneration due to these
divine and celestial gifts. The second is that, since the Sacraments
have been established by the God of infinite mercy for the common
salvation of all, the people should make pious and religious use of
them, and be so inflamed with the desire of Christian perfection as to
deem it a very great loss to be for any time deprived of the salutary
use, particularly of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.
These objects pastors will find little difficulty
in accomplishing, if they call frequently to the attention of the
faithful what we have already said on the divine character and fruit of
the Sacraments: first, that they were instituted by our Lord and Savior
from whom can proceed nothing but what is most perfect; further that
when administered, the most powerful influence of the Holy Ghost is
present, pervading the inmost sanctuary of the soul; next that they
possess an admirable and unfailing virtue to cure our spiritual
maladies, and communicate to us the inexhaustible riches of the Passion
of our Lord.
Finally, let them point out, that although the
whole edifice of Christian piety rests on the most firm foundation of
the cornerstone; yet, unless it be supported on every side by the
preaching of the divine Word and by the use of the Sacraments, it is
greatly to be feared that it may to a great extent totter and fall to
the ground. For as we are ushered into spiritual life by means of the
Sacraments, so by the same means are we nourished and preserved, and
grow to spiritual increase.
Also
See...
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Sacraments (General Information)
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Sacraments
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