Sacrament

Although the term “sacrament” is not found in the Scriptures, there is scriptural authority for these specific vital moments in the Church’s life. Over the course of history, the Church has developed her theology on the sacraments, basing this on both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. While at various times the term has been defined differently, the Church has understood some common aspects of this concept. 

The sacraments have long been understood to be efficacious signs of grace. To say sacraments are efficacious means more than that they are effective – for while “effective” means that something happens, “efficacious” means that what was intended to happen will always happen, provided the individual recipient of the sacrament puts no obstacle in the way. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies” (1127). 

“Sacrament” in the Tradition • The notion of this kind of sign goes back to the Fathers of the Church. They saw it to be a complex reality of two parts, one visible and the other invisible. The visible was the external aspect, referred to in Greek as the mysterion and in Latin as the signum, figura, or sacramentum. The invisible was the internal aspect, the Holy Spirit producing grace in the individual recipient. The primary focus of the early Church was on Baptism and the Eucharist. The grace produced was either that of new birth (Baptism) or of nourishment (the Eucharist). 

The term “sacrament,” first used by Tertullian (c. 160-c. 222), was understood generically to include many factors in the economy of salvation that had a sacred meaning. It was also applied specifically to Baptism, the Eucharist, and Confirmation. Tertullian speaks of the flesh being “washed . . . anointed . . . nourished.” Other Latin Fathers who wrote on this topic were St. Irenaeus and St. Cyprian, while Greek Fathers include St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. John Chrysostom. 

St. Augustine (354-430) pursued the theology of the topic by far the furthest. Using principles of Greek philosophy, he began with the simple notion of a sign as something that imprints a twofold image on the senses. The first is its own distinctive image; the second is a further reality that comes from the mind of the beholder. He then applied this to the realm of the sacred, concluding that a sacred sign must lead one to a sacred or religious reality. In any sacrament, there must be two necessary ingredients: matter and form. The matter is what is seen and felt. The form (or formula) is the words spoken. For instance, simply pouring water over an individual’s head is meaningless as a sign; but when the words “I baptize you . . .” are spoken, they give direction and meaning to, or “inform,” the matter. Grace comes from this now sacred sign because it is Christ himself who is at work. 

In addition to the matter and form, every sacrament must also have a minister and a subject, one who gives the sign and one who receives. For each of these there is a fundamental requirement: The individual subject must be properly disposed, and the minister must intend to do what the Church does or wants done. St. Augustine and later writers such as Peter Lombard (c. 1100-1160) went to great lengths to emphasize the fact that the worthiness or unworthiness of the minister is not a factor. He is exactly that, a minister, and he assumes a subordinate role. 

In the thirteenth century, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), following earlier writers, also understood the sacraments clearly as a kind of sign: “But now we are speaking of sacraments in a special sense, as implying the habitude of sign: and in this way a sacrament is a kind of sign” (Summa Theologiae, IIIa, 60, 1). He continues: “Properly speaking a sacrament, as considered by us now, is defined as being the ‘sign of a holy thing so far as it makes men holy’ ” (IIIa, 60, 2). 

For many of St. Thomas’s predecessors, the sacraments and their consequent graces were seen as remedies for sin. Taking this one step further, he saw the sacraments as being directly connected to the Incarnation and the entire paschal mystery. His treatise on the sacraments comes immediately after that on the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord. It is not simply that God conveys his graces to man; rather, the Word made flesh came among his people and directly, physically, through his humanity touched their human activities. Beyond this, the sacraments are all intimately interwoven with the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. It is through the sacraments that new life is given and wounds are healed; the members develop, and the whole body is renewed.

The sacraments are also part of the prayer life of the Church. Before discussing the sacraments, St. Thomas had covered the whole of the moral life, which included the virtues. Of the moral virtues, the virtue of justice, specifically as it relates us to God, is called the virtue of religion. This includes acts of adoration, worship, prayer, and sacrifice. To this extent, then, the sacraments build up the Body of Christ, as the members of that Body strengthen one another in their communal act of worship. 

Sacraments and Faith • All of this requires an exercise of faith, by both the individual and the community as a whole. The time-honored expression lex orandi, lex credendi means that what we profess in our creeds we carry out in our liturgy. Conversely, the prayer life is an externalization of the faith of both the individual and the whole community (CCC 1123-1124). This is seen most especially in the Holy Eucharist. Worthy reception of Holy Communion presupposes an act of faith on the part of the communicant. Hence the formula “The Body of Christ” expects from the recipient the response “Amen” – “I believe” – when he receives the sacrament. Minimally, the person must believe that this is really and truly the Body of Christ and nothing less. The “Amen” also is an externalization of the communion that exists between the members of the faithful who approach the sacrament. Indeed, all three of the theological virtues are involved in the sacraments, as faith is deepened, hope is strengthened, and charity is perfected. 

Three hundred years after St. Thomas, the Council of Trent authorized the famous Roman Catechism. Having given some background to various interpretations, both sacred and profane, of the word “sacrament,” that Catechism then proceeds to say what the faithful must be taught regarding what constitutes a sacrament: “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.” 

Vatican Council II gives this overview: “The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ, and, finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs they also instruct. They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express it. That is why they are called ‘sacraments of faith.’ They do, indeed, confer grace, but, in addition, the very act of celebrating them most effectively disposes the faithful to receive this grace to their profit, to worship God duly, and to practice charity” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 59). 

The new Code of Canon Law (1983), which continues the use of the word “sign” and in reference to sacraments states that one of the effects is grace or holiness, points out: “The sacraments of the New Testament, instituted by Christ the Lord and entrusted to the Church, as they are the actions of Christ and the Church, stand out as the signs and means by which the faith is expressed and strengthened, worship is rendered to God and the sanctification of humankind is effected” (Canon 840). 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church echoes these statements: “The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions” (CCC 1131). 

Theological Analysis • “Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony” (CCC 1210). 

The Church teaches that there are exactly seven distinct sacraments, neither more or less. These are referred to as the “sacraments of the New Law” to distinguish them from sacraments of the Old Law. The sacraments of the Old Law were Jewish rituals performed before Christ’s Passion and include such practices as offerings, sacrifices, and circumcision. Peter Lombard felt so strongly about the sacraments causing grace that he refused to use the term “sacrament” in referring to those observances of the Old Law. St. Thomas, however, had no problem with doing so. He resolved the dilemma by making a distinction. The sacraments of the New Law have sanctifying power present in them drawn from Christ and his Passion, while those of the Old Law were real sacraments insofar as they were physical signs prefiguring the redemptive act of Christ. Those who lived before Christ could use these “sacraments” to demonstrate their faith in the coming Christ and his redemptive work. Hence they would ultimately receive the fruits of the Redemption. 

The ecumenical Council of Florence (1439) made this distinction: “They [the seven sacraments of the New Law] are very different from the sacraments of the Old Law. For these latter did not confer grace but were only a figure of the grace to be conferred by the Passion of Christ; but our sacraments both contain grace and confer it on those who receive them worthily.” 

“The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life” (CCC 1210). Here the Catechism refers to St. Thomas and the analogy he draws between the natural life and the spiritual life, between the organic physical life and the sacramental life (cf. Summa Theologiae, IIIa, 65, 1). The sacraments are intended to achieve two ends: the perfection of man by worshiping God and the remedy of man by counteracting the harmful effects of sin. Man is perfected in two ways: as an individual and in his relationship to the whole social community. In respect to his own person, he is perfected as he achieves the fullness of life or by overcoming the various obstacles to this fullness such as sickness. With regard to the first, he makes progress in three ways: through generation, growth, and nutrition. He overcomes the obstacles by healing and by restoration to a former state of strength. With regard to the community as a whole, his perfection is accomplished in two ways: first, by having authority over a community maintaining peace and order; second, by way of natural propagation. 

Against this background it is easy to see how, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, the seven sacraments encompass the full range of Christian life and “give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian’s life of faith” (1210). We speak therefore of the sacraments of Christian Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist (CCC 1212); the sacraments of Healing – Penance and the Anointing of the Sick (CCC 1421); and the sacraments at the Service of Communion – Holy Orders and Matrimony (CCC 1534-1535). 

Sacraments as “Signs” • It is in the nature of a sign to point to some reality other than itself. In order for a sign to be valid and valuable as a sign, it must be both visible and intelligible, able to be seen and understood. 

Signs can be classified into three categories. First are what are called natural signs, signs that arise from nature itself. For example, smoke is a sign of fire; it points to fire, and it may lead us to the fire, but it is not the fire itself. 

Signs of the second type are artificial, or man-made, signs. These are more along the lines of concepts that society has agreed upon. For instance, a red light or red flag is a sign of potential danger. There is nothing dangerous about the color red in itself. Rather, society has adopted it as a convention. 

Signs of the third type are supernatural or divinely instituted signs, and these are the sacraments. The primary difference between this type of sign and the first two is that the sacraments are efficacious: What is intended to be accomplished is accomplished. Whereas natural and artificial signs merely point to a reality, the sacraments not only point to a reality but also, as it were, “take you there.” 

If natural and artificial signs are needed to point to things that are visible, then all the greater is the need for signs that point to that which is invisible. The Church teaches that sacraments are signs of grace, and grace is an invisible reality necessary for daily life as well as eternal salvation. The effect of the sacraments, when properly received, is always grace. The sacraments are efficacious signs because they were instituted by Christ, not a human person. Thus a summary definition of a sacrament is: “An outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.” A sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality. 

Validity and Effects • For the valid administration of each sacrament there are four required elements: form, matter, subject, and minister. The first two constitute the visible or external sign. The form (or formula) refers to the words spoken as the sacraments are being administered. The matter refers to the materials used, along with the accompanying gestures. 

The sign is given by one person to another. The subject is the one who receives the sacrament, and the minister is the one who administers it. All of the sacraments have an “ordinary” minister (ordinary in that he functions in ordinary circumstances). Three of the sacraments – Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion – also may have an “extraordinary” minister, who functions in the absence or lack of sufficient ordinary ministers. Note that in the case of the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, the extraordinary minister is solely for the administration of the sacrament and not its confection. 

Only a bishop may administer all seven sacraments. The priest acts as an ordinary minister for Baptism, Penance, Holy Communion (for both its confection and administration), and Anointing of the Sick. He may witness marriages for the Church and act as an extraordinary minister for Confirmation. The deacon is an ordinary minister for Baptism and Holy Communion (for its administration but not for its confection) and may witness marriages for the Church with the permission of the pastor. All baptized Christians who validly enter into marriage administer the sacrament of Matrimony to each other. Certain Catholics who have been approved by their pastor and appointed by the bishop may act as ministers of Holy Communion. 

The subject of the sacrament varies, depending on which sacrament is in question. For example, the subject for Baptism potentially is any human being, alive (or presumed alive) and nonbaptized, who either himself expresses the desire to be baptized or on whose behalf, in the case of an infant, the desire is expressed by parents or other responsible parties. The subject for the sacrament of Holy Orders is a male, baptized and confirmed as a Catholic, who is free from any impediments. In Matrimony, both parties must be baptized Christians (in order for it to be a sacrament) who are free to marry. 

As we have seen, “celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify” (CCC 1127). The principal effect of each sacrament is grace, for it is grace alone that sanctifies. Each sacrament confers sanctifying grace whereby the individual either is justified (if in sin) or increases in the life of grace. Through this growth in the life of grace the individual is increasingly configured to Christ, who confers that grace through his minister. 

Over and above this sanctifying grace, a special sacramental grace is conferred. This sacramental grace is understood as a divine assistance to help the individual subject achieve the end toward which the particular sacrament is ordered. In Baptism, for example, the sacramental grace helps the person to be a good Christian; in Matrimony, it helps the person to lead a good married life. All of this of course presupposes that the individual places no obstacle in the way and cooperates freely with God’s grace (cf. CCC 1129; Summa Theologiae, IIIa, 62, 3).

Three of the sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, confer a special character (or an indelible mark) on the soul that can be received only once. A very vivid image is the Greek term sphragis, which in its literal sense refers to a custom in ancient times whereby a shepherd, having acquired a new sheep, would take a pair of sharp shears and cut a mark in the sheep’s ear. The mark had two characteristics: It was unique (no two shepherds had the same mark) and it was indelible. The purpose was to identify the shepherd’s own sheep: He could locate them wherever they were, and so provide for them and protect them from danger. 

As the early Church developed her theology on the sacraments, she adopted this term to refer to the mark placed on the individual’s soul in these three sacraments. The image of the shepherd continues, too, as we envisage Christ the Good Shepherd watching over those who have been marked by these sacraments and providing for them. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: “This configuration to Christ and to the Church, brought about by the Spirit, is indelible; it remains for ever in the Christian as a positive disposition for grace, a promise and guarantee of divine protection, and as a vocation to divine worship and to the service of the Church” (1121; cf. 698). 

It is important always to see the sacraments in relation to the Church. The Catechism says: “The sacraments are ‘of the Church’ in the double sense that they are ‘by her’ and ‘for her.’ They are ‘by the Church,’ for she is the sacrament of Christ’s action at work in her through the mission of the Holy Spirit. They are ‘for the Church’ in the sense that ‘the sacraments make the Church’ [St. Augustine, De civ. Dei, 22, 17: PL 41, 779; cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 64, 2 ad 3], since they manifest and communicate to men, above all in the Eucharist, the mystery of communion with the God who is love, One in three persons” (1118). 

See: Ex Opere Operato; Grace; Judaism; Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi; Liturgy; Ministry; Priesthood of Christ; Religion, Virtue of; Sacramental Grace; Sacramentals; Sacraments of Initiation; Sacraments of the Dead; Sacraments of the Living; Sacrifice; Worship.

Suggested Readings: CCC 1113-1134. Vatican Council II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 6-7, 59-61; Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 10-11. Paul VI, On the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, Mysterium Fidei. Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship, Instruction on Certain Norms Concerning the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, Inaestimabile Donum. J. O’Connor, The Hidden Manna. N. Halligan, O.P., The Sacraments and Their Celebration. C. O’Neill, O.P., Meeting Christ in the Sacraments. A. Nichols, O.P., The Holy Eucharist. J. Hardon, S.J., The Catholic Catechism, Ch. XIII.

Christopher M. Buckner

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Revised: Sunday March 04, 2007 03:08:47 PM
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