Faith of Our Fathers

New Zealand Tablet, 8 December 1921, Page 33

Faith of Our Fathers

[A Weekly Instruction for Young and Old.] THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL. 1. Grace, which we have just been considering, is the life of the Church —a divine life, flowing through the veins and diffused throughout all the members of the mystical body of Christ, and having its source in the Wounds and the opened Heart of our Redeemer. But it is necessary that there should be channels by which is must bo conveyed from this divine source to our souls; and these mysterious channels are the Sacraments. 2. Wo will examine (1) what is the true idea of the Sacraments, and (2) their effects and their efficacy. First Article: True Idea of the Sacraments. 3. The word sacrament signifies a holy thing, because the thing it designates is holy in itself and in its effects: it produces holiness in . the soul. 4. A sacrament is defined as being an outward sign of inward grace, instituted by Jesus Christ for the sanctification of souls. An outward sign—that' is, a symbolic rite, such as an ablution or an anointing, which indicates and represents to tho eyes an inward grace, which is the spiritual effect produced in the soul by this corporal sign. A sign instituted by Jesus Christ. Ho alone has the power of attaching to any rite whatsoever the divine gift of grace. The Son of God was pleased to adopt these material means (1) in order to offer a sensible object to the devotion of the faithful, and to raise them, by means of visible things, to things invisible (2) in order to render the profession ’ of the Christian religion public and solemn. He did not delegate the institution of the Sacraments to His Church; He instituted them Himself, and bequeathed them to the Church as substantial rites, of which she was to be the depositary, the guardian, and dispenser, with power to surround them with ceremonies, hub in no way to change them in their substance. A sign -instituted to sanctify our souls, or, what is the same thing, to confer grace upon us —this is the end and effect of the Sacraments. They give, they confer habitual grace and actual grace, which are necessary to the faithful individually, and to the whole body of the Church. They confer grace and produce it in tho soul; and this is what distinguishes them from simple benedictions, prayers, and other religious ceremonies. All these things can obtain grace by way of supplication, or merit it by way of good works; but they do not confer it, producing it by their own intrinsic power. o. This productive virtue of grace also distinguishes our Sacraments from the religious rites of the Old Lawsuch as circumcision and legal ablutions, which also are called sacraments. These sacraments, incorrectly so termed, did not bestow grace but they prefigured it for the future: they were figurative, not vivifying signs. They nevertheless obtained Justification as being good works, in virtue of tho faith and devotion of those who practised them. They were the shadows of the Sacraments of the Now Law. Jesus Christ instituted as Sacraments Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, , Holy Orders, and Matrimony. 6. These seven Sacraments seem to have been indicated in the Old Law, (1) by the golden candlestick, shown in a vision to the prophet Zachary, which was surmounted by seven lamps, fed with oil from seven channels. And the seven Sacraments are in fact like seven channels through which the oil of grace is incessantly flowing, (2) By the seven pillars, of which the Holy Spirit speaks when He tells us that Wisdom built herself a house, and made seven pillars to support it. The seven Sacraments answer to them; for they are as it were the pillars of the Church, on which the whole structure of her public worship is brought to bear. This is why we say with reason that the Sacraments form the basis of Christian worship. 7. It is not difficult to discern the most profound wisdom in the number and choice of the Sacraments. The five first concern private or individual good, the two last the public good of the Church. The seven contain what is necessary and sufficient for the life, preservation, and

spiritual prosperity as well of 'the , whole body of the Church as of each individual member composing it. To understand this, we may remark that the spiritual order resembles the order of nature, and follows a course analogous to it. Thus in the natural order man must be born, grow strong, . and be nourished. If he falls sick, he needs medical treatment to escape death, and afterwards strengthening remedies to repair the injury caused by his sickness. Human society requires Government to maintain it in order and prosperity; it requires also matrimony to perpetuate it. In a similar manner, in tho supernatural order, there is a birth, which is Baptism; the strength of manhood, which is Confirmation nourishment, which is the Blessed Eucharist; a medicinal remedy against death, which is Penance; a balm for healing the wounds and destroying tho remains of sin, which is Extreme Unction. Moreover there is an infallible principle of order and Government, which is found in the Sacrament of Holy Orders; and, lastly, a holy propagation of the faithful, which belongs to tho Sacrament of Matrimony, 8. Tho Sacraments differ from each other, (H in point of dignity (one of them, namely, the Blessed Eucharist, is more august than any of the others); (2) in point of necessity; (3) as regards the dispositions required in those who receive them. 0. They are divided (1) into Sacraments of the living and Sacraments of the dead. Tho former can only be received by those who are living, with the life of grace; the latter can be received by those who are dead to grace - that is to say, by those who are in the state of mortal sin. (2) Into Sacraments which imprint a character, and which can be received only once; and Sacraments which do not imprint a character, and which may be received many times. (3) Into Sacraments necessary as necessary means, Sacraments necessary by necessity of precept, and Sacraments of free choice.