1113
The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic
sacrifice and the sacraments.29 (Cf. SC 6. ) There are seven sacraments in the Church:
Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the
Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.30 (Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274) DS 860; Council of Florence (1439) DS 1310; Council of Trent (1547): DS 1601.) This article will discuss what is common to
the Church's seven sacraments from a doctrinal point of view. What is common to
them in terms of their celebration will be presented in the second chapter, and
what is distinctive about each will be the topic of Section Two.
I.
The Sacraments of Christ
1114
"Adhering to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, to the apostolic
traditions, and to the consensus . . . of the Fathers," we profess that
"the sacraments of the new law were . . . all instituted by Jesus Christ
our Lord."31
1115
Jesus' words and actions during his hidden life and public ministry were
already salvific, for they anticipated the power of his Paschal mystery. They
announced and prepared what he was going to give the Church when all was
accomplished. the mysteries of Christ's life are the foundations of what he
would henceforth dispense in the sacraments, through the ministers of his
Church, for "what was visible in our Savior has passed over into his
mysteries."32
1116
Sacraments are "powers that come forth" from the Body of Christ,33 (Cf. ⇒ Lk 5:17; ⇒ 6:19; ⇒ 8:46.) which
is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in
his Body, the Church. They are "the masterworks of God" in the new
and everlasting covenant.
II.
The Sacraments of the Church
1117
As she has done for the canon of Sacred Scripture and for the doctrine of the
faith, the Church, by the power of the Spirit who guides her "into all
truth" has gradually recognized this treasure received from Christ and,
as the faithful steward of God's mysteries has determined its
"dispensation."34 (Jn 16:13; cf. ⇒ Mt 13:52; ⇒ 1 Cor 4:1.) Thus the Church has discerned over the centuries
that among liturgical celebrations there are seven that are, in the strict
sense of the term, sacraments instituted by the Lord.
1118
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, "35 (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.
1119
Forming "as it were, one mystical person" with Christ the head, the
Church acts in the sacraments as "an organically structured priestly
community."36 (LG 11; cf. Pius XII, Mystici Corporis (1943).) Through Baptism and Confirmation, the Priestly people is
enabled to celebrate the liturgy, while those of the faithful "who have
received Holy Orders are appointed to nourish the Church with the word and
grace of God in the name of Christ."37
1120
The ordained ministry or ministerial priesthood is at the service of the
baptismal priesthood.38 ( Cf. LG 10 # 2. ) The ordained priesthood guarantees that it really is
Christ who acts in the sacraments through the Holy Spirit for the Church. the
saving mission entrusted by the Father to his incarnate Son was committed to
the apostles and through them to their successors: they receive the Spirit of
Jesus to act in his name and in his person.39 (Cf. ⇒ Jn 20:21-23; ⇒ Lk 24:47; ⇒ Mt 28:18-20.) The ordained minister is the Sacramental bond that ties the liturgical action to what the apostles said and
did and, through them, to the words and actions of Christ, the source and the foundation of the sacraments.
1121
The three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders confer, in
addition to grace, a sacramental character or "seal" by which the
Christian shares in Christ's priesthood and is made a member of the Church
according to different states and functions. This configuration to Christ and
to the Church, brought about by the Spirit, is indelible, 40 (Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1609.) it remains forever
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. Therefore these sacraments can never be repeated.
III.
The Sacraments of Faith
1122
Christ sent his apostles so that "repentance and forgiveness of sins
should be preached in his name to all nations."41 (Lk 24:47.) "Go therefore and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit."42 (Mt 28:19.) The mission to baptize, and so the Sacramental mission is implied in the mission to evangelize because of the Sacrament which is prepared for by the word of God and by the faith which is assent
to this word:
The
People of God is formed into one in the first place by the Word of the living
God.... the preaching of the Word is required for the sacramental ministry
itself, since the sacraments are sacraments of faith, drawing their origin and
nourishment from the Word.43 (PO 4 ## 1, 2.)
1123
"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."'44
1124
The Church's faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere
to it. When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she confesses the faith
received from the apostles - whence the ancient saying: lex orandi, lex
credendi (or: legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi according to Prosper of
Aquitaine [5th cent.]).45 (Ep. 8.) The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church
believes as she prays. Liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living
Tradition. 46 (Cf. DV 8. )
1125
For this reason, no sacramental rite may be modified or manipulated at the will
of the minister or the community. Even the supreme authority in the Church may
not change the liturgy arbitrarily, but only in the obedience of faith and with
religious respect for the mystery of the liturgy.
1126
Likewise, since the sacraments express and develop the communion of faith in
the Church, the lex orandi is one of the essential criteria of the dialogue
that seeks to restore the unity of Christians. 47 (Cf. UR 2; 15. )
IV.
The Sacraments of Salvation
1127
Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they
signify.48 (Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1605; DS 1606.) 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. the Father always hears the prayer of his
Son's Church which, in the epiclesis of each sacrament, expresses her faith in
the power of the Spirit. As fire transforms into itself everything it touches,
so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life whatever is subjected to his
power.
1128
This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation49 (Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1608. ) that the sacraments act ex
opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of the action's being
performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished
once for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the
righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of
God." 50 (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 68, 8. ) From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with
the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and
through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister.
Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of
the one who receives them.
1129
The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are
necessary for salvation.51 (Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1604. ) "Sacramental grace" is the grace of the
Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. the Spirit heals and
transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. the
fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful
partakers in the divine nature 52 (Cf. ⇒ 2 Pet 1:4.) by uniting them in a living union with the
only Son, the Savior.
V.
The Sacraments of Eternal Life
1130
The Church celebrates the mystery of her Lord "until he comes," when
God will be "everything to everyone."53 (1 Cor 11:26; ⇒ 15:28. ) Since the apostolic age the
liturgy has been drawn toward its goal by the Spirit's groaning in the Church:
Maranatha! 54 (1 Cor 16:22. ) The liturgy thus shares in Jesus' desire: "I have earnestly
desired to eat this Passover with you . . . until it is fulfilled in the
kingdom of God."55 (Lk 22:15. ) In the sacraments of Christ, the Church already receives
the guarantee of her inheritance and even now shares in everlasting life, while
"awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God
and Savior Christ Jesus."56 (Titus 2:13. ) The "Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come...
. Come, Lord Jesus!"' 57 ( Rev 22:17, ⇒ 20. )
St.
Thomas sums up the various aspects of sacramental signs: "Therefore a
sacrament is a sign that commemorates what precedes it - Christ's Passion;
demonstrates what is accomplished in us through Christ's Passion - grace; and
prefigures what that Passion pledges to us - future glory."58
IN
BRIEF
1131
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.
1132
The Church celebrates the sacraments as a priestly community structured by the
baptismal priesthood and the priesthood of ordained ministers.
1133
The Holy Spirit prepares the faithful for the sacraments by the Word of God and
the faith which welcomes that word in well-disposed hearts. Thus the sacraments
strengthen faith and express it.
1134
The fruit of sacramental life is both personal and ecclesial. For every one of
the faithful and the one hand, this fruit is life for God in Christ Jesus; for
the Church, on the other, it is an increase in charity and in her mission of
witness.
GO TO:
CHAPTER ONE THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE AGE OF THE CHURCH
ARTICLE 1 THE LITURGY - WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
ARTICLE 2 THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE CHURCH'S SACRAMENTS
ARTICLE 2 THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE CHURCH'S SACRAMENTS
PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
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