Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/343

 SACRAMENTS

297

SACRAMENTS

e. g. Mortimer, "Catholic P"'aith and Practice", New York, 1905, part I, p. 120).

In every sacrament three things are necessary : the outward sign; the inward grace; Divine institu- tion. A sign stands for and represents something else, either naturally, as smoke represents fire, or by the choice of an intelligent being, as the red cross indicates an ambulance. Sacraments do not natu- rally signify grace; they do so because they have been chosen by God to signify mysterious effects. Yet they are not altogether arbitrary, because in some cases, if not in all, the ceremonies performed have a quasi-natural connexion with the effect to be produced. Thus, pouring water on the head of a child readily brings to mind the interior purification of the soul. The word "sacrament" {sacramenlum), even as used by profane Latin writers, signified something sacred, viz., the oath by which soldiers were bound, or the money deposited by litigants in a contest. In the writings of the Fathers of the Church the word was used to signify something sacred and mysterious, and where the Latins use mcramentum the CJreeks use ixviTT-qpiov (mystery). The sacred and mysterious thing signified is Divine grace, which is the formal cause of our justification (see Grace), but with it we must a.ssociate the Passion of Christ (efficient and meritorious cause) and the end (final cause) of our sanctification, viz., eternal hfe. The significance of the sacraments according to theologians (e. g. St. Thomas, III, Q. Ix, a. 3) and the Roman Catechism (II, n. 13) extends to these three sacred things, of which one is past, one present, and one future. The three are aptly expressed in St. Thomas's beautiful antiphon on the Eucharist: "O sacrum convivium, in quo Christus .sumitur, recolitur memoriu i)a,ssionis ejus, mens impletur gratia, et futura^ gloria' nobis pignus datur — O sacred banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of the passion is recalled, the soul is filled with grace, and a pledge of future life is given to us".

(2) Errors of Protestants. — Protestants generally hold that the sacraments arc signs of .something sacred (grace and faith), but deny that they really cause Divine grace. Episcopalians, however, and Anglicans, especially the Ritualists, hold with Catho- lics that the sacraments are "etTectual signs" of grace. In article XXV of the \\'estminster Confes- sion we read: "Sacraments orflained of (!od be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace and CJod's good will towards us by which He doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken but strengthen and confirm our faith in Him" (cf. art. XXVII). "The Zwin^lian theory", writes Morgan Dix (op. cit., p. 73), "that sacraments are nothing but memorials of ChrLst and badges of Chris- tian jirofession, is one that can by no possifjlc juggler}^ with the English tongue be reconciled with the for- mularies of our cliurch." Mortimer adopts and exi)lains the Catholic formula "ex opere operato" (loc. cit., p. 122). Luther and his early followers rejected this conception of the sacraments. They do not cause grace, but are merely "signs and testimo- nies of God's good will towartls us " (Augsburg Confes- sions) ; they excite faith, and faith (fiduciary) causes justification. Calvinists and Presbyterians hold substantially the same doctrine. Zwinglius lowered still further the dignity of the sacraments, making them signs not of God's fidelity but of our fidelity. By receiving the sacraments we manifest faith in Christ: they are merely the badges of our profession and the pledges of our fidelity. Fundamentally all these errors ari.se from Luther's newly-invented theory of righteousness, i. e. the doctrine of justi- fication by faith alone (see Grack). If man is to be sanctified not by an interior renovation through grace which will blot out his sins, but by an extrinsic impu-

tation through the merits of Christ, which will cover his soul as a cloak, there is no place for signs that cause grace, and those used can have no other purpose than to excite faith in the Saviour. Luther's con- venient doctrine on justification was not adopted by all his followers and it is not baldly and boldly pro- claimed by all Protestants to-day: nevertheless they accept its consequences affecting the true notion of the sacraments.

(3) Catholic Doctrine. — Against all innovators the Council of Trent declared: "If any one say that the sacraments of the New Law do not contain the grace which they signify, or that they do not confer grace on those who place no obstacle to the same, let him be anathema" (Sess. viii, can. vi). "If any one say that grace is not conferred by the sacraments ex opere operato, but that faith in God's promises is alone sufficient for obtaining grace, let him be anathema" (ibid., can. viii; cf.can.iv, v, vii). The phrase " ex opere operato", for which there is no equivalent in English, probably was used for the first time by Peter of Poi- tiers (d. 1205), and afterwards by Innocent III (d. 1216; de myst. missa;. III, v), and by St. Thomas (d. 1274; IV Sent., dist. 1, Q. i, a. 5). It was happily in- vented to express a truth that had always been taught and had been introduced without objection. It is not an elegant formula but, as St. Augustine remarks (In Ps. cxxxviii) : It is better that grammarians should object than that the people should not understand. "Ex opere operato ", i. e. by virtue of the action, means that the efficacy of the action cf the sacraments does not depend on anything human, but solely on the will of God as expressed by Christ's institution and promise. " Ex opere operantis ", i. e. by reason of the agent, would mean that the action of the sacraments depended on the worthin<>sseitlu'rof the minister or of the recii)ient (see Pourrat, "Theology of the Sacraments", tr., St. Louis, 1910, 1(')2 sqq.). Prot(>stants cannot in good faith object to the phrase as if it meant that the mere outward ceremony, apart from God's action, causes grace. It is well known that Catholics teach that the sacraments are only the instrumental, not the princi- pal, causes of grace. Neither can it be (claimed that the phra.se adopted by the council does away with all dispositions nec(\ssary on the part of the recipient, the sacraments acting like infallible charms causing grace in those who are ill-disposed or in grievous sin. The fathers of the council were careful to note that there must be no obstacle to grace on the part of the re- cipients, who nmst receive them rile, i. e. rightly and worthily; and they declare it a calumny to assert that they require no previous dispositions (Sess. XIV, de pa>nit., cap. 4). Dispositions are required to pre- pare the subject, but they are a condition {conditio sine qua non), not the causes, of the grace conferred. In this case the sacraments differ from the sacranien- tals, which may cause grace ex opere operantis, i. e. by reason of the prayers of the Church or the good, pious sentiments of those who use them (see Sacra- mentals).

(4) Proofs of the Catholic Doctrine. — In examining proofs of the Catholic doctrine it must be borne in mind that our rule of faith is not simply Scripture, but Scripture and tradition, (a) In Sacred Scrip- ture we find expressions which clearly indicate that the sacraments are more than mere signs of grace and faith: "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John, iii, 5); "He saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost" (Tit., iii, 5) ; "Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost" (Acts, viii, 17); "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life • . . . For my flesh is meat indeed : and my blood is drink indeed" (John, vi, 55, 50). These and similar expressions (see articles on each sacrament) are, to say the least, very much exagger-