The Thomistic Institute The Sacraments in the Christian Life (Part 1) | Fr. Dominic Langevin, OP
Apr 22, 2024
Fr. Dominic Langevin, OP, a Dominican priest, discusses the significance of sacraments in the Christian faith, exploring their role as signs of grace and connections to Christ. Topics include sacramental causality, evolution of theological understanding, physicality in Christianity, and Aquinas' teachings on sacramental grace.
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Sacraments Continue The Incarnation
- The sacraments extend Christ's incarnation by combining spiritual grace with physical signs to reach believers across time and space.
- Aquinas distinguishes faith (purely spiritual, should have material expression) from sacraments (must use exterior things like water and bread).
Christ's Humanity Is Instrumental For Grace
- Christ's humanity functions as an instrument of his divinity, so his physical gestures and signs conveyed spiritual power during his ministry.
- Aquinas applies that instrumentality to sacraments, seeing Eucharist and other rites as real presence and means of union.
Aquinas Definition Of Sacraments
- Aquinas's compact definition: sacraments are sensible signs of invisible things that sanctify a person, echoed by the Catechism's definition.
- Visible rites both signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament when received with disposition.