To some, the sacraments are prescriptions of the Church that one simply needs to receive without thinking much about them. To others, the sacraments guarantee salvation. To yet others, they are expressions of our worship that help people relate with the content of our faith, and so need to be accommodated for specific cultures. What are the sacraments, really? And how can we appreciate them better? Let us ponder what the Bible [1], the Church and the Saints teach us about this crucial topic.
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Opening Prayer – Preface in Honor of the Most Sacred Heart
“... [R]aised up high on the Cross,
he gave himself up for us with a wonderful love
and poured out blood and water from his pierced side,
the wellspring of the Church’s Sacraments,
so that, won over to the open heart of the Savior,
all might draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.”
Amen.
Opening Song – Anima Christi, by Liezel Garcia
Upon learning that someone I knew faced terminal cancer, my concerns multiplied. Despite being a baptized Catholic, he wasn't a faithful follower. Neither did he attend Mass. Then in his 70s, I feared he might not "finish the race", dying without being in communion with God.
Adding to the complexity, he had received a miracle from our Lady over a decade earlier. Having battled terminal cancer, he had resorted to suicide, seeing demons around him when he was unconscious. When Mother Mary appeared to him in this state, it was not only the demons that were dispelled, his cancer too. And yet, for the next 15 years, he lived without a conversion experience, never "encountering Jesus" despite being miraculously healed.
This felt like a squandered grace, so as his cancer returned and spread to his brain and bones, I felt helpless looking at his son, who shared details of his declining health.
In a final effort to help his soul, I urged that a priest be called to administer the sacrament of anointing of the sick. His son, no longer identifying as a Catholic by then, agreed, and a few weeks later, he passed away. Before his death, his son thanked me, seeing the sacrament as a source of dignity for his bedridden father who could no longer communicate well.
The purpose and power of the sacraments
To cradle Catholics, the sacraments surround us from birth, death, and even beyond, as in the case of votive masses offered for the departed souls. These are not merely religious celebrations of the stages of human life created to mark our milestones in life. It is not a “ritual, just for Catholics”, in the way other religions offer similar rituals, or a mere fulfillment of some sociological need to celebrate and act out our worship. The sacraments convey divine power: to cleanse, to renew, to unite, to seal, to elevate, and ultimately to impart the gift of himself to us.
Yet, the sacraments are still more than that. According to Vatican II [2]:
“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’.” (emphasis added)
1. The sacraments as ‘mysteries’ and extension of the Incarnation
The sacraments as ‘mysteries’
The most common definition of a sacrament is “an outward sign of inward grace” [3]. Although this is now specific to the seven sacraments, the term had a broader meaning in the early church, encompassing sacramentals and prayers. St. Ambrose's treatise on the sacraments, for instance, included baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, and even the Lord’s prayer [4]. The precise definition of the sacraments evolved later, with the term being reserved for the seven sacraments due to their distinct theological significance. These were systematized in the Middle Ages [5], shaping the familiar theology of the sacraments we adhere to today.
In the early Church, the sacraments were also called the “mysteries”. In the Latin Church, we still use this term from time to time, as in the beginning of each mass when the priest asks us “to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries”. The term carries a broader sense than “sacrament”. And in St. Paul’s usage, it refers not to something mysterious in the way we typically understand it, but to God’s revelation regarding his plan of salvation that had thus far been kept secret [6].
This hidden mystery, now revealed, is ultimately Jesus Christ, the goal of all creation, bringing together "things in heaven and things on earth" [7]. This mystery also includes his body, the Church, into which Jews and Gentiles are united. By referring to the sacraments as “mysteries,” the early Church seemed to indicate that they prolong in history the great mystery of the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus [8]. As the Catechism states [9]:
“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 [i.e. the sacraments]."
Through them we are united to him by being immersed into his death and resurrection; we hear his words of absolution that declares the forgiveness of our sins; we see, touch, and receive his body that turns our body into his; we participate in his ministerial priesthood through the laying of hands. And we are united in marriage in the bond of love that unites him and his Church. Therefore, the sacraments are not simply rituals that impart grace. It is Jesus himself who acts in the sacraments [10].
Extensions of the Incarnation
The sacraments, in other words, are the visible encounters with the risen Jesus. Although the term "encounter with Jesus" is commonly used in a broad sense as in a conversion experience, the sacraments are the guaranteed and privileged place for that encounter, assuring us of his presence and activity in the world. This is most evident in the Eucharist, the sacrament of all sacraments, but also in the other sacraments.
Understanding that it is Jesus himself who is present and acting in the sacraments enables us to realize that they are not mechanical "grace dispensers" or magical rituals but extensions of the incarnation. What Jesus did through his physical body during his ministry is now continued through his mystical body, the Church, manifested in the sacraments.
Directly experiencing Jesus then and now
There's a tendency, at times, to envy the apostles and the contemporaries of Jesus in Galilee. We imagine how fortunate they were in directly experiencing Jesus—listening to his teachings, receiving healing and forgiveness, and being baptized in his immediate presence. We find ourselves thinking, “If only I were born during that time, my faith would have been greater.”
What often slips our mind is that in the sacraments and the liturgy that celebrates them, Jesus is in all that. By taking flesh and coming down to us, he has touched us, and through the sacraments continues to touch us [11]! We need only to see it with the eyes of faith. This is especially so in the Eucharist. When the priest proclaims “the mystery of faith” after the consecration of the bread and wine, our response that “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” is not just a statement affirming an article of faith. It is a response to the mystery present before us, the Paschal sacrifice that is present before us.
In contrast to Bartimaeus, who had to shout and navigate through crowds to seek healing and forgiveness from Christ [12]—and even then, only when Jesus happened to be in the vicinity—we have the privilege to witness and partake in His salvific acts whenever the sacraments are celebrated in the liturgy. It echoes the truth that “whenever the memorial of this sacrifice [i.e., the Eucharist] is celebrated, the work of our redemption is accomplished” [13].
2. The sacraments and the Church
It was stated above that the sacraments exist to build up the Church. In a certain way, we can see the sacraments as creating a network of relationships that make up the Church. We are conceived through the sacrament of matrimony, born in the Spirit through baptism, sustained by the sacraments, who are in turn administered by the Church’s ministers who are consecrated through the sacrament of Holy Orders.
Born from the sacraments
But the Church Fathers saw it even deeper. They saw the Church as being born from the sacraments. If the Church is a communion with the divine persons of the Trinity, shared with us, it is the sacraments that establish this communion among us. The imagery of Christ on the cross, with water and blood flowing from his side, evokes the sacraments coming forth from Christ's Passion.
St. John Chrysostom beautifully articulated this connection:
“‘There flowed from his side water and blood’. Beloved, do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized baptism and the holy eucharist. From these two sacraments the Church is born: from baptism, “the cleansing water that gives rebirth and renewal through the Holy Spirit”, and from the holy eucharist. Since the symbols of baptism and the Eucharist flowed from his side, it was from his side that Christ fashioned the Church, as he had fashioned Eve from the side of Adam Moses gives a hint of this when he tells the story of the first man and makes him exclaim: ‘Bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh!’
This imagery prompts us to see the Church not merely as a community of believers professing the same faith. At the core of what makes up the Church is grace—grace won by Christ through his death and resurrection, dispensed through the sacraments, and in turn establishes the presence of God in the world through his Church [14]. Therefore, salvation is not an individual affair; to be saved by God (through the sacraments) is to be saved through and in the Church [15].
Self-help vs sacrament-enabled
This is quite different from the secular mindset, where the idea of determining our own ‘salvation’ prevails. In an era of self-help literature promising fulfillment through one’s own definition of ‘success’, faith is often similarly regarded as an individual ‘choice’. The central notion is ‘interior salvation,’ convincing individuals that as long as we believe in God and commit to doing good, we are saved. In such cases, the conscious need for grace and its tangible expression, is overlooked [16].
We might have Catholic friends and family members who hold this belief. They profess faith in God but not participating in the life of the Church, thinking that they are saved as long as they are ‘good’. Besides completely misunderstanding what faith is, the significance of the sacraments, of the God who became man, becomes diminished [17].
Against this, the Church emphatically states that salvation is not about an isolated individual's self-realization or an internal fusion with the divine [18]. Instead, it involves being incorporated into a communion of persons participating in the communion of the Trinity. This participation occurs through the sacraments, particularly Baptism as the door and the Eucharist as the source and summit.
3. The sacraments as efficacious signs
Signs that instruct
During the 16th-century Reformation, certain Reformers approached the sacraments with what we might consider a 'modern' perspective. The sacraments, instead of imparting grace in themselves, are signs that we celebrate. In celebrating them, we come to know our faith, and so help us understand how our faith saves us.
This explanation has some attractiveness, since it seems to shed supernatural elements. It sounds universal, since this applies to the secular world as well, where rituals mark significant moments: cutting ribbons to inaugurate events, doing countdowns to welcome the new year, and blowing out candles to celebrate birthdays. Following this logic, just as blowing out birthday candles doesn't physically age us, the sacraments, too, might be viewed as not causing any real effect.
Yet, in this view, the sacraments still play a role in kindling faith. They achieve this by evoking the reality of faith through symbols, words, and gestures. There is an inherent truth in this approach. As stated in the Catechism, sacraments are signs that "instruct" [19]. They guide us by pointing to the content of faith made visible through these signs. For instance, the act of baptism symbolizes the cleansing of our souls through faith. In essence, the sacraments become akin to visual aids, assisting us in internalizing the Gospel [20].
Efficacious signs
But the Church's faith goes beyond this. Since the earliest time, for example, it was a unanimous belief that baptism regenerates [21], to such an extent that by the 4th century, it was a common problem that people delayed baptism so that they could be cleansed once and for all. The Emperor Constantine was not baptized until his deathbed, and St. Augustine himself was not baptized as a child because of his mother’s concern that he might sin after baptism and could not obtain forgiveness afterwards [22].
This means the sacraments are not just “signs”; they are efficacious signs. They impart grace when intended and done in the way they are supposed to [23]. It is a pledge from God that nothing extrinsic to the sacraments can impede it. Consequently, the Church will always be able to bestow the grace associated with the sacraments even when the administering minister is in a sinful state. This was exemplified in the 4th century when some Christians questioned the validity of baptisms performed by those who had lapsed from the faith; the Church decisively ruled that these baptisms were indeed valid [24].
These sacramental signs are not inventions of the Church, and the Church is not free to change their substance [25]. Rather, because the sacraments were instituted by Christ, they were bound to the conditions of his humanity in history, to the meaning of the signs that Christ himself was immersed in and attached to his sacraments. Therefore, the Church safeguards these sacraments received from Jesus, akin to preserving the Scriptures [26]. While she may clarify and delineate them over time, she does not have the authority to alter their essence.
Form and matter
This is why the Church has designated the “form” and “matter” [27] that make up the sacramental signs.
The ‘matter’ of the sacraments is the human action or gestures through which Christ himself acts as well as the material elements used such as bread, oil, water.
The ‘form’ is the word and intention of the minister that turns what is otherwise a purely human action into a sacrament.
For a sacrament to be a sacrament, it has to have the right form and matter corresponding to the sacrament.
Demanding substantial change contradicts the origin of the sacraments as coming from Christ. There had been, for example, suggestions that food staple other than bread could be used in the Eucharist, or incidents where the baptism rite is changed such that the meaning is affected [28].
The Church continues to say ‘no’ to these; she is the minister of the sacraments, not the owner [29]. A sacrament that is performed in this way would cease to be recognizable as Christ’s action and becomes invalid; and although God could have given his grace in spite of it, the associated indelible mark (or seal) of the sacrament—such as in baptism, confirmation, and Holy Orders—would not exist in the recipient.
The reality which each sacrament signifies
This signifying aspect is not limited only to the sacramental rite performed [30]. In the Eucharist, the act of receiving the body and blood of Christ also signifies the full communion that exists between the communicant, Christ, and the Church [31]. One who receives communion without actually being in union with Christ and his Church is in fact contradicting the very reality that the sacrament signifies [32]. This is why generally non-Catholics cannot receive it; neither can those who have not repented [33]. As the Catechism says, holy Communion “augments”, not establish, our union with Christ [34]. Our union with Christ is instead established in baptism or, when it is lost due to mortal sin, in the sacrament of reconciliation.
In other words, it is not a matter of being more or less worthy of receiving communion; it is a matter of what receiving it means. For the same reason, the Church requires that only infants who have some hope of being raised in the faith can be baptized (normally this is fulfilled when both parents are Catholic) [35], i.e. the baptized needs to truly express the reality of being members of the body of Christ, as the reception of baptism signifies.
4. The sacraments presuppose faith
Sacramentalized but not evangelized
If the temptation in the previous section is to veer towards the merely symbolic function of the sacraments, a mistaken understanding in the efficacy of the sacraments could also tempt us to veer towards ritualism and sacramental automism, whereby the reception of the sacraments is seen as the be-all and end-all of being a Christian, to the exclusion of a holistic life in the Spirit.
Many cultural Catholics might be in this situation. They are raised as Catholics and have received the necessary sacraments (baptism, Eucharist, and confirmation), but do not live a life of faith because of a mistaken understanding that receiving the sacraments is ‘sufficient’ to be a Christian. Reception of the sacraments becomes mechanical, with the result that many Catholics are ‘sacramentalized but not evangelized’.
Fruitfulness depends on disposition and a life of faith
The confusion here pertains to the idea of efficacy. A sacrament might be valid, but it might not necessarily be fruitful. It does convey grace when it is performed in accordance with the Church’s intention, but what needs to be remembered is that the fruitfulness of a sacrament still involves the disposition, the faith of the recipient [36]. One who receives communion without any thought would gain much less than the one who receives it with devotion.
To give an illustration from the gospels, Jesus, the “primordial sacrament” [37], encountered a multitude pressing in from all sides as he moved through the crowd by the Sea of Galilee. But not all around him gained from his presence [38]. His power went forth to only one hemorrhagic woman, and when he asked, “Who touched my garment?”, the answer was telling; only the woman, reaching out in faith, actually “touched” him. Those literally jostling around him did not. Thanks to her faith, she experienced a miraculous healing that she would otherwise not experience.
This passage reminds us that we who frequently partake in the sacraments without fervent faith run the risk of finding ourselves in a situation similar to the rest of the crowd above, never actually touching Jesus. We could be receiving the sacraments daily but with no good fruit, because our disposition is like that of a barren soil [39]. Even worse, it would be sacrilegious to consciously receive them without any regard [40]. Indeed, often, it is not access to the sacraments that is the issue. Merely allowing as many people as possible to the sacraments without having regard for their disposition and life of faith is as good as allowing people to crowd around Jesus without truly encountering him.
St. Mark Ji Tian Xiang
In contrast to this, consider the life of St. Mark Ji Tian Xiang (19th c.). He was one of the 120 Chinese martyrs canonised by Pope John Paul II in 2000 [41]. He attained holiness not by mere adherence to the sacraments but through his fervent desire for them, despite being unable to partake in them. A medical doctor, he succumbed to opium addiction while treating his own ailment. Despite repeatedly confessing his struggle with opium use, his priest, observing frequent relapses, concluded that he lacked a firm purpose of amendment that was necessary for the sacrament, and never gave him the absolution—the understanding of addiction being limited at the time. Over three decades, he persisted in confessing without ever receiving the sacraments. But during the Boxer's Rebellion, when faced with the imminent threat of martyrdom, he courageously embraced it, earning the crown of glory through his death for Christ.
Mystagogy
This highlights the importance of “mystagogy”, derived from the Greek word that means ‘leading into the mystery’.
Mystagogy is a period of formation and reflection after the new converts (or neophytes) have been baptized at Easter. The aim is to:
“… initiate people into the mystery of Christ … by proceeding from the visible to the invisible, from the sign to the thing signified, from the ‘sacraments’ to the ‘mysteries” [42].
It provided them an opportunity to grasp the profound significance of the sacraments they had received and understand how these rites empowered them to lead a Christian life.
It is a form of liturgical catechesis that enables them to understand how the sacraments they have received continue to help them reflect on their newfound life in the Spirit. Though its specifics may vary, in the patristic era, it often involved sermons that delved into the liturgy, interpreting its layers of meaning through literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical senses [43] akin to the interpretation of scriptures [44].
St. Cyril of Jerusalem on the sacrament of confirmation
See for example the mystagogical catechesis of St. Cyril of Jerusalem (4th c.) on the sacrament of confirmation [45]:
“… as Christ was in reality crucified, and buried, and raised, and you are in Baptism accounted worthy of being crucified, buried, and raised together with Him in a likeness, so is it with the unction also. As He was anointed with an ideal oil of gladness, that is, with the Holy Ghost, called oil of gladness, because He is the author of spiritual gladness, so you were anointed with ointment, having been made partakers and fellows of Christ.
“But beware of supposing this to be plain ointment. For as the Bread of the Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, is mere bread no longer, but the Body of Christ, so also this holy ointment is no more simple ointment, nor (so to say) common, after invocation, but it is Christ's gift of grace, and, by the advent of the Holy Ghost, is made fit to impart His Divine Nature. Which ointment is symbolically applied to your forehead and your other senses; and while your body is anointed with the visible ointment, your soul is sanctified by the Holy and life-giving Spirit.
… Moreover, you should know that in the old Scripture there lies the symbol of this Chrism. For what time Moses imparted to his brother the command of God, and made him High-priest, after bathing in water, he anointed him; and Aaron was called Christ or Anointed, evidently from the typical Chrism. So also the High-priest, in advancing Solomon to the kingdom, anointed him after he had bathed in Gihon. To them however these things happened in a figure, but to you not in a figure, but in truth; because you were truly anointed by the Holy Ghost …” [emphasis added]
Notice the reference to Jesus being anointed with the Holy Spirit-–the “oil of gladness”—and how our chrismation echoes it; we are likewise anointed with the same “oil of gladness”, the Spirit, just like Jesus, at our confirmation. Notice also how the patriarchs’ anointing was a prefigurement of this sacrament.
Our anointing of holy chrism, therefore, becomes a fulfillment of the Old Testament that we can now experience. It is not just a checkbox that we simply ‘tick’ for having received it. Rather, mystagogical catechesis helps us see the invisible truth in the visible sacrament, our own life in the sacrament. Gradually, reflecting upon the mysteries, receiving them regularly, we will be able to see our life slowly transformed by the same mysteries. This is the fruit of mystagogical catechesis [46].
Liturgy celebrated well
Of course, mystagogy involves more than just conveying abstract knowledge [47]. “Liturgy is life that forms, not an idea to be learned” [48]. In order to ‘form’ well, the liturgy itself must be celebrated well. As Pope Benedict XVI put it, “The best catechesis on the Eucharist is the Eucharist itself, celebrated well” [49], highlighting the vital role of the celebrant. However, the congregants are also called to engage in a ‘full, conscious, and active participation'. This participation is more than just external actions such as responding with the congregational responses or singing hymns; it includes interior participation as well.
For example, in the liturgy of the Eucharist, as the priest recites the prayers alone and due to our familiarity with them over the years, our minds often drift away. We may only snap back to attention when the priest reaches the final doxology, “Through him and with him and in him …”. In this, we need to recall that alongside the priest who offers Jesus as the Immaculate Victim, we too, are encouraged to offer ourselves to the Father [50]. Indeed, this is what the priest himself implores in the same Eucharistic prayer: that we become an eternal offering to the Father as a result of the Eucharistic sacrifice [51]. Active interior participation unites us to the mystery being celebrated.
We're also reminded that participation isn't confined solely to our actions during the liturgy. True ‘active participation’ entails engagement in the life of the Church as a whole, serving others, and dedicating ourselves to advancing the kingdom of Christ in the world [52]. As previously noted, the reception of sacraments, to be truly effective, demands a vibrant life of faith, wherein we're ready to receive the grace they offer.
6. Conclusion
In this episode, we have looked at what the sacraments are and aren’t:
They are not rites created merely to fulfill certain sociological needs to worship.
They are not a creation of the Church.
They were instituted by Christ who in his humanity bound the visible signs to a transcendent meaning, in such a way that the Church is not free to alter them substantially.
Above all, they are an extension of the Incarnation, the presence and activity of Christ through his body, the Church, sanctifying her members and ultimately the world.
While they are indeed efficacious signs conveying grace, their reception still involves the free response of faith. No sacrament, therefore, is “automatic”.
Faith is always presupposed by the celebration of the sacraments, and the liturgy surrounding their celebration should illuminate this reality and predispose us to receive grace.
Engaging in a mystagogical catechesis could help us rekindle our capacity to immerse ourselves in these mysteries and, consequently, live them out authentically.
May our regular participation in the sacraments not lead us into the trap of routine. Let us approach each sacramental encounter with renewed reverence and mindfulness!
Concluding Prayer – Prayer after Communion on the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)
May your Sacraments, O Lord, we pray,
perfect in us what lies within them,
that what we now celebrate in signs
we may one day possess in truth.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
* Is there anything in this session which struck you or any thoughts, experiences or ideas which come to your mind? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you.
** Thank you for joining us on the A-Z of DiscipleSHIP. We look forward to having you with us again next month, as we study the letter “T”, for Theology of the Body.
Recommended Closing Song
Recommended Reading / Resources
On the Mysteries by St. Ambrose
Catechetical Lectures by St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Lectures 19–23)
Christ Our Pascha: Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church 403–499
Sacraments in Scripture: Salvation History Made Present by Tim Gray
Reflection and Sharing Questions
In this episode, we have explored the essential aspects of the sacraments, addressed common misconceptions, and discussed the appropriate mindset we should maintain towards them.
How much has your view of the sacraments changed after this episode? How might it change your attitude in receiving the sacraments and exhorting others in approaching them?
How did losing access to the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation during the COVID-19 pandemic affect you? What could you have done differently? Do you often ‘tune out’ during liturgical celebrations? Try to pay attention more to the prayers in the liturgy: the Eucharist, baptism, confirmation, matrimony, reconciliation. What meaning does each sentence in the liturgical text convey?
© Presented by the Catholic Theology Network (writers / contributors / sound): Chandra Nugraha (Certificate in Catholic Theology, Augustine Institute), Dominic Chan (M.A., Theology, Augustine Institute), Nick Chui (MTS, JPII Institute for Marriage and Family, AU), Keenan Tan (M.A., Theology, Augustine Institute), Debra Dass (Diploma in Theology, CTIS), Marcia Vanderstraaten (Diploma in Theology, CTIS).
Footnotes
1. Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture references are taken from the RSV 2nd CE.
3. See the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, or more commonly known as “the Penny Catechism”
4. The title of the treatise was “On the Mysteries”. But “the mysteries” were often used to refer to the sacraments at the time.
5. Notably by Peter Lombard (12th c.), whose enumeration of the seven sacraments was later officially recognized by the Council of Florence (15th c.)
6. Eph 3:4-6
7. Eph 1:9-10
8. For an extended elaboration on this theme, see Jose Granados, Introduction to Sacramental Theology: Signs of Christ in the Flesh, pp. 66–73
9. CCC 1115
10. CCC 1127
11. Lumen Fidei 31
12. Cf. Mk 10:46-52
13. An ancient prayer that we preserve in the Prayer over the Offerings in the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday
14. In fact, because the Church is the sign and instrument of Christ for salvation, manifesting and actualizing the mystery of God’s love for men, she is called the “universal sacrament of salvation”. Cf. CCC 776.
15. This does not mean that God cannot save people without the sacraments. As CCC 1257 states, “God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments”.
16. The former is practically pelagianism, the latter is masked Gnosticism. See Placuit Deo.
18. Placuit Deo 12
19. Cf. CCC 1123
20. The Protestant Reformers Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin understood the sacraments in this way. See The Sacramental Theology of the Reformers: A Comparison of the Views of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli
21. J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, pp. 193–194
22. At the time, the sacrament of reconciliation was only administered publicly, was difficult to obtain, and could only be undertaken once in a lifetime.
23. In a principle called ex opere operato (i.e. from the very action performed)
24. See the Donatist controversy
25. Cf. Gestis Verbisque 11
26. Ibid.
[27] Terms used in philosophy to designate the constituents of all physical things. Unlike our casual understanding of ‘form’, form is not an external, superficial appearance, but what makes a thing that thing, i.e. it is what gives the thing the identity of that thing.
28. Responsum to Questions Proposed on the Validity of Baptism Conferred with the Formula “We baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
30. Or sacramentum tantum, the sign itself. In the Eucharist, it would be the consecration rite with the bread and wine signifying the transubstantiation.
31. This would be the res tantum of the Eucharist, the ultimate reality/effect of the sacrament. For an excellent discussion on the tripartite structure of the sacraments, see R. Cessario, The Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, pp. 82–90
32. Cf. Ecclesia de Eucharistia 35
33. Despite the uproar over Amoris Laetitia in allegedly permitting the divorced and remarried to communion, Pope Francis has recently clarified that access to the Eucharist was for a particular case and with the sacrament of reconciliation beforehand. See Response to a Series of Questions Posed by His Eminence, Dominik Cardinal Duka, O.P., Regarding the Administration of the Eucharist to Divorced People Living in a New Union
34. CCC 1391; Cf. CCC 1392; 1396.
35. CIC 868 §1
37. A term by Edward Schillebeeckx to designate Christ as the sacrament of God’s love and the source of all the sacraments
38. Cf. Mk 5:25-34
39. Cf. CCC 1129
40. Especially the Eucharist. Cf. 1 Cor 11:27-29, but this applies to all the sacraments as well. See CCC 2120.
41. See The life of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang: Persevering in faith despite addiction (oursundayvisitor.com) and St. Mark Ji Tianxiang: opium addict, martyr and saint--Aleteia
42. CCC 1075
43. The Awe-Inspiring Mysteries: The Importance of Mystagogy - Homiletic & Pastoral Review. Accessed on 17th March 2024
45. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture 21)
46. Cf. Sacramentum Caritatis 64
47. Cf. To Participants at the Plenary Assembly of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (14 February 2019)
48. Ibid.
50. Cf. Sacramentum Caritatis 52
51. Cf. Eucharistic Prayer II: “May he make of us an eternal offering to you …”
52. Cf. Sacramentum Caritatis 55
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