What is a sacrament? (q. 60)
• A. 1. Whether a sacrament is a kind ofsign ?
o A thing may be called a sacrament either because it possesses a certain hidden sanctity or because it has a certain
relationship to this sanctity, a relationship which may be that of a cause, sign, or any other relation.
■ Thus sacrament in the special sense taken here implies a habitude of a sign; thus a sacrament of the Church is
properly a sacred visible sign of an invisible reality.
o ad 2. Those secrets, whether divine or human which are unlawful to violate by making them known to anybody
whatsoever, are called sacred secrets or sacraments.
• A.2. Whether every sign of a holy thing is a sacrament?
o A sacrament properly so-called is that which is the sign of some sacred thing pertaining to man; thus properly speaking,
a sacrament is defined as being a sign of a holy thing sofar as it makes men holy.
o ad 3·. Things that signify disposition to holiness are not called sacraments, but sacramentals; only those things that signify
perfection of holiness in man are called sacraments.
• A.3. Whether a sacrament is a sign of one thing only?
o A sacrament properly speaking is that which is ordained to signify our sanctification, and this in three ways:
■ from the very cause op our sanctification (Christ’s Passion): in this way, a sacrament is a reminder of the past.
■ from the veryform oj our sanctification (grace and virtues): in this way, a sacrament is an indication of what is effected
in us by the Passion.
■ from the ultimate end op our sanctification (eternal life): in this way, a sacrament is a prognostic of future glory.
o ad 1: A sign constituting one of the sacraments is not ambiguous, since although the sign may signify many things, these
things are all mutually ordained and thus form a moral unity; such is the way a sacrament signifies the three tilings above.
o ad 2: A sacrament signifies that which sanctifies; hence it must needs signify the effect which is implied in die sanctifying
cause as such.
A.4. ΙΤ7μΑγ a sacrament is always something sensible?
o Divine wisdom provides for each thing according to its mode; as it is part of man’s nature to acquire knowledge of the
intelligible from the sensible, so the sacramental signs employ sensible things to reveal a hidden supernatural reality.
o ad 1: Sensible effects by heir very nature lead to the knowledge of something else.
A. 5. Whether determinate things are requiredfor a sacrament?
o The utility of the sacraments is ordered towards the worship of God and the sanctification of man.
■ The sanctification of man is in the power of God who sanctifies; thus it belongs only to divine institution to
determine things by which man is sanctified.
o ad 1: Although the same thing can be signified by diverse signs, yet to determine which sign must be used belongs to the
signifier; as sanctification is ordered towards God, it belongs to Him to determine and order the signs.
o ad2: Sensible signs ordained towards sanctification do not possess such ordination by their natural power but only in
virtue of divine institution.
A.6. Whether words are requiredfor the signification of the sacraments?
o It is fitting in three ways for words to be added to the sensible signs:
■ In regards to the cause of sanctification, the Word Incarnate: the sacraments, in virtue of word and sign, possess a
conformity to the Incarnation, as the Word is united to sensible flesh.
■
On the part ofman who is sanctified: the sacramental remedy extends to both the body, which it touches, and the
soul, through the sensible element.
■
On the part of the sacramental signification: in order to insure the perfection of the sacramental signification, it was
necessary to determine the signification of sensible tilings by means of certain words.
o ad 1: It is not superfluous repetition to add words to the visible element in the sacraments because one determines the
other.
A.7. Whether determinate words are requiredfor the sacraments?
o In the sacraments, the words are as form and the sensible things are as matter; the determining principle is on the part of
the form.
■
For the being of a thing, the need of a determinate form is prior to the need for determinate matter.
■
In the sacraments, determinate sensible things are required; but as these specify spiritual things, so much more
is there need in them of a determinate form of words.
o ad 1: It is the intelligible sense of the words that determine the form, not the specific sounds, hence the sacrament is complete no
matter what language the form is expressed in.
o ad 3: If the corruption of the pronunciation of the sacramental words does not do violence to the essence of the sense to
be expressed, the sacrament is valid.
■
Failure to express die essential sense of the sacrament, either by contempt or ignorance, invalidates it.

A.8. Whether it is lawful to add anything to the words in which the sacramentalform consists?
° There are two points to be considered in the variation of the sacramental form by addition or subtraction:
■
on the part of the person saying the words and concomitant intention·, if the intention of the addition or subtraction is to
perform a rite distinct form that recognized by the Church, the sacrament is invalid.
■
on the part of the meaning of the words: if any substantial part of the sacramental form is suppressed or if it be
corrupted by the addition of words, the sacrament is invalid; otherwise, validity is presumed.
o ad 1: Addition of words as to pretend that something else is essential to a sacramental form is unlawful and invalidates it.
o ad 3: Interruption of the words to the extent that the intention is corrupted destroys the sacramental sense and thus the
validity of the sacrament.

On the necessity of the sacraments (q. 61)
• A.l. Whether sacraments are necessaryfor man’s salvation?
Sacraments are necessary unto man’s salvation for three reasons:
■
In regard to the condition of human nature which is determined to be led by things corporeal/sensible to the
spiritual/intelligible.
■
From the state of man who, by sin, subjected himself to corporeal things: It was fitting for God to provide man
with a spiritual medicine by means of certain corporeal things.
■
From the fact that man is prone to direct his activity chiefly toward material things.
o Thus, man in consistency with his nature is instructed through sensible things; he is humbled through confessing that he
is subject to corporeal things, seeing that he receives assistance through them.
o ad2: God gives grace to man in a way suitable to him; thus man needs the sacraments so as to obtain grace.
o ad 3: The sacraments obtain their effect through the power of Christ’s Passion, which is the sufficient cause of man’s
salvation; hence, Christ’s Passion is applied to man through the Sacraments.
A.2. Whether before sin sacraments were necessary to man?
o Sacraments were not necessary in the state of original innocence, since the rectitude characteristic of that state
maintained the subjection of the lower powers to the higher; thus it would be contrary to this order if the soul were
perfected in knowledge or grace by anything corporeal.
o ad 1: Man required grace in the state of innocence, but only via a spiritual and invisible manner.
o ad 3: Matrimony was instituted in the state of innocence as a function of nature, not as a sacrament, but it did
foreshadow something in relation to Christ and the Church as referred to in Eph 5:32.
A. 3. Whether there should have been sacraments after sin but before Christ?
o Before Christ’s coming, there was need for some visible signs where man might testify to his faith in the future coming
of the Savior; such signs are called sacraments.
o ad 1: Christ’s Passion is the final cause of the Old Sacraments, for they were instituted in order to foreshadow it; since
the final cause precedes, not in time, but in the intention of the agent, there is no reason against existence of sacraments
before Christ’s Passion, although these are not to be likened in nature to the sacraments of the Church.
A.4. Whether then was needfor any sacraments after Christ came?
o The sacraments of the Old Law were abolished because they were fulfilled in Christ.
o The sacraments are signs in protestation of the faith whereby man is justified; signs should vary according as they signify
tlie future, the past, or the present.
■ Hence, the sacraments of the New Law, which signify Christ in relation to the past, must needs differ from
those of the Old Law, which foreshadowed the future coming of Christ.
o ad2: St. Paul refers to the sacraments of the Old Law as weak and needy elements because they neither contained nor
caused grace (cf. Gal 4:9).

o

•

•

•

Of the sacraments’ principal effect, which is grace (q. 62)
•

A.l. WPetherthe sacraments are the cause ofgrace?
o The sacraments of the New Law cause grace, since bv them man is incorporated with Christ, which is only possible by
grace (cf. Gal 3:27).
o The efficient cause of the sacraments is twofold:
■ Crom the principal cause, which works by the power of itsform, to which theform is likened: in this way, none but God can
cause grace, since grace is nothing else than a participated likeness of the divine nature.
■ Crom the instrumental cause, which works by motion whereby it is moved by the principle agent, so that the effect is not likened to
the instrument but to the principal agent, in this way, the sacraments cause grace, for they are instituted by God to be
employed for the purpose of conferring grace.

ad 1: An instrumental cause (if manifest) can be called a sign of a hidden effect because it is not merely a cause but also
an effect insofar as it is moved by the principal agent.
■ Thus, a sacrament properly effects what it signifies and perfectly fulfills the condition of a sacrament, that is,
being ordained to something sacred both as a sign and as a cause.
° ad2. The corporeal sacraments by their operation, which they exercise on the body that they touch, accomplish through
divine institution an instrumental operation on the soul.
Whether sacramentalgrace confers anything in addition to the grace of the virtues andgifts?
° Grace, considered in itself, perfects the essence of the soul, insofar as it is a certain participated likeness of the divine
nature.
■
Sacraments are ordained unto certain special effects which are necessary in the Christian life.
■ Just as the virtues and the gifts confer, in addition to grace, a certain special perfection ordained to the power’s
proper action, so likewise does sacramental grace confer, over and above grace commonly so-called and in
addition to the virtues and gifts, a certain divine assistance in obtaining the end of the sacrament.
o ad 1: Sacramental grace bears upon certain special effects necessary in a Christian life, and is needed above and beyond
the grace of the virtues and gifts which bear upon the powers of the soul in regard to ordering conduct.
o ad 2: The sacraments provide a special remedy that can bear upon things of the past (e.g, sin and guilt) whereas the
virtues and the gifts remove vice in reference to the present and the future.
Whether the sacraments of the New Law contain grace?
° Grace is contained in a sacrament in two ways:
■ As in its sign, for a sacrament is a sign of grace.
■ As in its cause (instrumentally): in this way, grace is not contained in a sacrament as to its specific likeness (which is
God, the principal cause) but as to a certain instrumental power transient and incomplete in its natural being.
o ad 1: Grace is not in a sacrament as in its subject, but as the instrument of some work to be done.
o ad 3: Grace has a passing and incomplete mode of being in the sacraments, and thus it is not unfitting to say that the
sacraments contain grace.
Whether there be in the sacraments a power of causing gj'ace?
o The power of the principal agent exists in nature completely and perfectly, whereas the instrumental power has a being
that passes from one thing to another, and is incomplete.
■
Hence, since a sacrament is an instrumental cause of grace, it possesses a certain instrumental power of
bringing about the sacramental effects.
o ad 1: A spiritual power is in the sacraments inasmuch as they are ordained by God unto the production of spiritual
effects.
o ad 3: As an instrumental power accrues to an instrument through its being moved by the principal agent, so does a
sacrament receive spiritual power from Christ’s blessing and from the action of the minister in applying it to sacramental
use.
o ad 4'. The one and same sacramental power is in both words and things, forasmuch as words and things combine to form
one sacrament.
Whether the sacraments of the New Law deme theirpowerfrom Christ’s Passion?
o The principal efficient cause of grace is God Himself, in comparison with Whom Christ’s humanity is as a united
instrument, whereas the sacramentis a separate instrument.
■
Hence, the saving power must needs be derived by the sacraments from Christ’s divinity through His
humanity.
o Christ delivered us from sin principally through His Passion, not only by wan’ of efficiency and merit, but also by way of
satisfaction; thus He inaugurated the sacraments by offering Himself.
■ The sacraments therefore derive their power specifically from Christ’s Passion, the virtue of which is in a
manner united to us by our reception of the sacraments.
o ad 1: The Eternal Word quickens souls as a principal agent; Christ’s humanity (and the mysteries accomplished therein)
are as instrumental causes in the process of giving life to the soul.
o ad 2: The power of blotting out sin belongs especially to the Passion; thus the power of the sacraments which is
ordained unto the remission of sins is derived principally from faith in the salvific work of the Passion.
Whether the sacraments of the Old Law causedgrace?
o If the sacraments of the Old Law conferred sanctifying grace of themselves, the Passion of Christ would have been
unnecessary.
■ The sacraments of the Old Law were prior to the Passion; what does not yet actually exist does not cause
movement if we consider the use of exterior things (e.g, the sacraments).

O

A.2.

A. 3.

A.4.

A. 5.

A. 6.

Consequently, the efficient cause cannot in point of time cannot come into existence after causing movement,
as does the final cause; thus the sacraments of the New Law do reasonably derive the power of justification
from Christ’s Passion while those of the Old Law cannot.
• The ancient Fathers were, however, justified in faith of Christ’s Passion which the sacraments of the
Old Law prefigured; thus these sacraments signified faith by which men are justified, although they
could not be endowed with any power by which they conduced to the bestowal of justifying grace.
ad 3: Circumcision was a sign of justifying faith; consequently, grace was conferred in circumcision insofar as it was made
a sign of Christ’s future Passion.
■

o

Of the other effect of the sacraments, which is character (q. 63)
•

•

•

•

•

A. 1. Whether a sacrament imprints a character on the soul?
o Whenever anyone is deputed to some definite purpose, he is wont to receive some outward sign thereof; since by the
sacraments men are deputed to spiritual service pertaining to the worship of God, it follows that by their means the
faithful receive a certain spiritual character.
o ad2: The character imprinted on the soul is a kind of sign insofar as it is imprinted by a sensible sacrament.
o ad 3: No spiritual character was produced by the sacraments of the Old Law, since these were unable in themselves to
produce a spiritual effect.
A.2. Whether a character is a spiritualpower?
o The worship of God consists either in receiving divine gifts or bestowing them on others; for both these purposes, some
spiritual power is needed, either active in order to bestow something on others, or passive in order to receive it.
■ Thus a character signifies a spiritual power ordained unto things pertaining to divine worship; such spiritual
power is instrumental, as this character is a quality belonging to God’s ministers who are instrumental in
effecting the sacraments.
o ad 4~. A character is in the nature of a sign in comparison to the sensible sacrament by which it is imprinted; considered
in itself, it is in the nature of a principle.
A.3. Whether the sacramental character is the character of Christ?
o A character is a kind of seal whereby something is marked as being ordained to some particular end.
o The faithful are deputed to a twofold end:
■
To the enjoyment ofglory. thus they are marked with the seal of grace.
■
To receive, or bestow on others, thingspertaining to the worship of God: properly, this is the purpose of the sacramental
character.
• The sacramental character is specially the character of Christ, to Whose character the faithful are
likened by reason of the sacramental characters, which are themselves certain participations of Christ’s
priesthood, flowing from Christ Himself.
o ad2: Something can be attributed to a character in two ways:
■
If the character be considered as a sacrament, it is thus a sign of the invisible grace which is conferred in the
sacrament.
■
If it is considered as a character, it is thus a sign conferring on a man a likeness of some principal person in
whom is vested the authority over that to which he is assigned; this is the sense of Christ’s character.
A.4. Whether the character be subjected in the powers of the soul?
o Divine worship consists in certain actions; the powers of the soul are properly ordained to actions, just as the essence is
ordained to existence.
■ Thus a character is subjected not in the essence of the soul but in its powers.
o ad 2: Just as the essence of the soul, from which man has natural life, is perfected by grace, from which the soul derives
spiritual life, so the natural power of the soul is perfected by a spiritual power, which is a character.
A. 5. Whether a character can be blotted outfrom a soul?
o Every sanctification wrought by the priesthood of Christ is perpetual, enduring as long as the thing sanctified endures.
■
Since the subject of the character is the soul as to its intellective part where faith resides, it is clear that, since
the intellect is perpetual and incorruptible, a character cannot be blotted from the soul.
o ad 1 : Grace is in the soul as a form having complete existence therein, whereas a character is in the soul as an
instrumental power.
■ An instrumental power follows the condition of the principal agent; consequently, a character exists in the soul
in an indelible manner, not from any perfection of its own, but from the perfection of Christ’ priesthood, from
which the character flows like an instrumental power.
o ad 2: A character is an instrumental power; the nature of an instrument as such is to be moved by another, not to move
itself, which belong to the will.

■

•

Regardless of how much the will is moved contrary to the ordering appropriate to the character, the character
is not removed, by reason of the immobility of the principal mover.
o ad 3: The end of external worship remains after this life, towards which the character is ordered; thus the character
remains after death, adding glory to the good and shame to the wicked.
A.6. Whether a character is imprinted bp each sacrament of the New Lair?
o Not all the sacraments are directly ordained to divine worship, for not all of them ordain man to any consequent
sacramental action or benefit received; thus not all of them confer a character.
o Of those that confer a character:
■ Holy Orders: since it is by this that man is deputed to confer sacraments on others (agents).
■ Baptism: confers on man the power to receive the other sacraments of the Church, from the standpoint of birth
and growth.
■
Confirmation: confers a specific character ordered to the reception of powers in order to exercise spiritual
combat.

On the causes of the sacraments (q. 64)
•

•

•

•

•

A. 1. Whether God alone, or the minister also, works inwardly unto the sacramental effect?
o There are two ways of producing an effect:
■ As aprincipal agent, the interior sacramental effect is the work of God alone since only He can enter the soul
wherein the sacramental effect takes place and because grace is from God alone.
■ As an instrument, the interior sacramental effect can be the work of man insofar as he works as a minister who
conducts the exterior act from which the interior grace is conferred (which is proper to God alone).
o ad 2: The sacramental effect is not impetrated by the prayer of the Church or of the minister, but through the merits of
Christ’s Passion; hence the sacramental effect is not made better (substantially) by a better minister, although the
accidental devotion of the minister can have an additional effect on the recipient.
A.2. Whether the sacraments are instituted by God alone?
o The sacraments are instituted causes of spiritual effects.
■ The power of a sacrament cannot be from him who makes use of the sacrament because he only works as a
minister (instrumental).
■
It follows therefore that the power of the sacrament is from the institutor of the sacrament, which belongs to
God alone.
o ad 1: Human institutions observed in the sacraments (external rites) are not essential to the sacrament, but belong to the
solemnity which is added to the sacraments in order to arouse devotion and reverence in the recipient.
■ Whatever is essential to the sacrament must have been instituted by Christ; although not all the sacraments are
handed down by Scripture, the Church holds to the Tradition of the Apostles.
o ad2: For the sacraments, the aptitude for sensible things to signify spiritual effects must be fixed and designated by
divine institution.
A.3. W'hether Christ as man had the power ofproducing the inward sacramental effect?
o Christ as God works in the sacraments by authority, but as man by the power of excellence, in that His operation conduces to
the inward sacramental effects meritoriously and efficaciously, although instrumentally.
■
Since Christ’s humanity is an instrument united to the Godhead in unity of Person, it has a certain headship
and efficiency in regard to the extrinsic instruments, and this in four ways:
• The merit and power of Christ’s Passion operates in the sacraments.
• The sacraments are sanctified by the invocation of Christ’s name.
• Christ had the power to institute the sacraments.
• Christ could bestow the sacramental effect without the physical conferring of the sacrament.
A.4. Whether Christ could communicate to ministers the power which He had in the sacraments?
o Christ in virtue of His divine nature could not communicate His power of authority to any creature, since this belongs to
God alone.
o Christ in His human nature could communicate His power of excellence to ministers, namely, by giving them the
fullness of grace.
o ad 1: Christ did not communicate His power of excellence for the good of the faithful in order to prevent their
placement of trust in men or lead them to division in the Church.
A.5. Whether the sacraments could be conferred by evil ministers?
o An instrument acts not by reason of its own form, but by the power of the one who moves it; therefore, whatever form
or power an instrument has in addition to that which it has an instrument is accidental to it.

• Hence, the ministers of the Church can confer the sacraments although they may be wicked.
ad 7: Those who approach the sacraments receive an effect that likens them to Christ, not the minister.
ad2·. As it is possible for a man to work with a lifeless instrument which is separate from him, so in such manner does
Christ effect the sacraments through the ministry of wicked men.
° ad 3: A good minister is requires for a sacrament by way of a certain fitness, but not essentially.
A.6. Whether wicked men sin in administering the sacraments'?
° It is appropriate for sacramental ministers to be righteous because ministers should be like unto their Lord.
■ To exercise a sacred ministry in the state of sin further compounds the sin, since such an act is one of
irreverence towards God and to the contamination of holy things; it follows that such a sin is generically
mortal.
o ad 7: Rectitude and holiness maker a man suitable for sacramental ministry; thus a man acts unbecomingly and sins of he
attempts to fulfill that ministry in a state of sin.
o ad2: As long as the wicked minister is tolerated by the Church (that is, he still possesses faculties), reception of the
sacraments from him is licit, for this is done in communion with the Church from whom he has delegation; if the
minister is under sanction or suspension, reception of the sacraments (under normal circumstances) is sinful and illicit.
° ad 3: In a case of necessity, a layman can legitimately baptize, and would incur no additional sin in baptizing if he were in
a state of sin himself; in this case, the circumstance of necessity mitigates the gravity of the act.
A. 7. Whether angels can administer sacraments?
o The whole power of the sacraments flows from Christ’s Passion, which belongs to Him as man; thus it belongs to men
and not angels to dispense the sacraments and to take part in their administration.
o However, God is able to bestow the sacramental effect without the physical conferring of the sacrament; similarly, He
did not so bind His power to the minister of the Church so as to be unable to give angels the power to administer the
sacraments.
■
Since good angels are messengers of truth, any sacramental rite performed by them is valid since such an action
would only take place by the will and permission of God.
A. 8. Whether the minister’s intention is requiredfor the validity of the sacrament?
o Since the sacraments are not objects of chance (which is unintentional), they must require an intention for validity.
o When a thing is indifferent to many uses, it must be determined to one in order to produce the effect specific to the use.
■ As sacramental signs can have a multiplicity of uses, they need to be determined to one purpose, which is done
by way of intention which should be in conformity with the words which are pronounced in the conferral of
the sacraments.
o adl·. The intention of the minister is required, whereby he subjects himself to the principal agent, that is, he intends to
do that which Christ and the Church do.
o ad 2. The minister of the sacrament acts in the person of the whole Church whose minister he is; thus in the words
uttered by him, the intention of the Church should be expressed.
■ Both of these suffice for validity of the sacrament, except if the contrary be expressed (by positive intention) on
the part of the minister.
o ad 3: An actual intention is not required for validity but only a habitual (virtual) intention to do what the Church intends
when performing the sacrament.
■ However, the minister should make the effort to have an actual intention, although such is not entirely in man’s
power because the mind unintentionally wanders when he tries to very intently concentrate on something.
A. 9 Whetherfaith is required of necessity in the minister of the sacrament?
o Just as the validity of the sacrament does not require that the minister have charity (since sinners can confer the
sacraments), so neither is it necessary that the minister possess faith, for even an unbeliever can confer Baptism provided
all the essentials in form, matter, and intention are present.
o ad 1: If the minister’s faith is defective in regard to the very sacrament he confers (that is, he believers that no inward
effect is caused by the outward sign), he can still intend to do what the Church intends and validly confect the
sacrament, albeit he esteem it to be nothing.
o ad 2: Formal heresy is an obstacle to the fruitful reception of the sacraments, even if the administration is valid.
o ad 3'. The power of confecting the sacrament belongs to the indelible character of the order; hence, a sanction of the
Church limits the permission to exercise the power, but in no way deletes the power from the minister.
■
Illegal use of the power of Orders is sinful and reception of the sacraments illicitly is sinful, unless ignorance
excuses.
A. 10. Whether the validity of a sacrament requires the good intention in the minister?
o The minister’s intention can be perverted in two ways:
■ In regard to the sacrament itself, a positive intention that removes the truth from the sacrament invalidates it.
°
°

As to something thatfollows the sacrament, a perverse consequent intention that is connected to the intention to
confect the sacrament does not invalidate it, although such an additional intention is generically mortal.
ad 1: A minister gains merit for himself if he conforms his intention to the Church in regards to both the validity of the
sacrament and to the use thereof.
ad 3: The perverse intention of the minister perverts the sacrament insofar as it is his action, not insofar as it is the action
of Christ, Whose minister He is.

■

o
o

On the number of the sacraments (q. 65)
•

A.l. W'hether there should be seven sacraments?
o There are several comparisons that demonstrate the fittingness of seven sacraments, no more, no less.
IN CONFORMITY WITH
THE LIFE OF THE BODY

AS A REMEDY AGAINST
DEFECT CAUSED BY SIN

ADAPTATION TO
THE VIRTUES

birth

against absence of spiritual life

Faith (against original sin)

nourishment

against proneness to sin

Charity (against malice)

growth/maturity

against infirmity of soul

Fortitude (against cowardice)

against actual sin

(ustice (against mortal sin)

against remainders of sin

Hope (against venial sin)

against divisions in society

Prudence (against ignorance)

against individual concupiscence

Temperance (against lust)

BAPTISM
EUCHARIST

CONFIRMATION
PENANCE

healing

HOLY UNCTION
HOLY ORDERS
MARRIAGE

res toration/death
governance of society

natural propagation

ad 1 : The same principal agent uses various instruments unto various effects in accordance with the thing to be done;
thus, the divine power and the Passion can work in us through the various sacraments as through various instruments.
o ad 6: Holy water and other consecrated things provide a certain disposition to the reception of the sacraments either by
removing obstacles or by making things suitable for the conferring of a sacrament; thus these things are called
sacramentels.
o ad 8: The infusion of grace is not necessary for the blotting out of venial sin, so none of the sacraments were instituted
directly against venial sin; thus venial sin can be remitted by the proper use of the sacramentals.
A.2. Whether the order of the sacraments, as given above, is becoming?
o Just as unity· precedes multitude, so those sacraments which are intended for the perfection of the individual naturally
precede those which are intended for the perfection of the multitude.
■ Hence, matrimony is placed last as it has less participation in the nature of the spiritual life.
■ Baptism, which is spiritual regeneration, is ranked first, followed by Confirmation which is ordered to the
formal perfection of powers, and then the Eucharist which is ordained towards final perfection.
o ad 2: For a thing to be an agent, it must first of all be perfect in itself; thus Holy Orders is placed after those sacraments
by which man is perfected in himself.
o ad 4: Penance is not required of necessity as a preparation for the Eucharist, but only accidentally, since those free from
mortal sin are not compelled to avail themselves of Penance.
A.3. Whether the Eucharist is the greatest of the sacraments?
o The Eucharist is the greatest of the sacraments for three reasons:
■
Because it contains Christ Himself substantially whereas the other sacraments contain a certain instrumental
power which is a share of Christ’s own power.
■ All the sacraments seem to be ordained to the Eucharist as to their end.
■
By considering the rites surrounding the conferral of the sacraments, of which nearly all terminate in the
Eucharist.
o From other standpoints, on the grounds of necessity, Baptism is the greatest of the sacraments, while on the grounds of
perfection. Order is ranked first.
o ad 1: The common spiritual good of the whole Church is contained substantially in the sacrament of the Eucharist itself,
o ad2: The Eucharist does not depute man to any duty, but is rather the end of all duties.

o

ad 3: The Eucharist unites man to Christ Himself, and thus is greater than a sacrament that imprints a character, which is
a participation in Christ’s priesthood.
■4· H' hether all the sacraments are necessaryfor salvationi
° Necessity of end is considered in two ways:
■ As that by which the end cannot be attained: in this way, Baptism is necessary absolutely. Penance for the remission
of post-Baptismal mortal sin, and Holy Orders for the existence of the Church.
■ As that by which the end cannot be attained becomingly: in this way, all the sacraments are necessary in some way.
° ad 1 : For a thing not to be superfluous, it is enough for it to be necessary in either of the two ways above; hence all the
sacraments belong to one of the categories and none are therefore superfluous.
° ad 3: It does not amount to contempt for the sacraments (simply speaking) if someone does not take die trouble to
receive a sacrament that is not strictly necessary for salvation.
°

+
Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum, in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam.
Sit nomen Domini benedictum in saecula. Arnen.

TRACTUS DE SACRAMENTIS IN GENERE

A compiled outline based on the tract
as laid out in the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas
IIIa qq. 60-65.

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Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi?
A.D. MMII