The Thomistic Institute Aquinas on Christ's Passion and the Sacraments | Fr. Dominic Langevin, OP
Mar 11, 2019
Fr. Dominic Langevin, Dominican priest, discusses Aquinas' views on Christ's Passion and the sacraments. Topics include the link between Christ's Passion and the sacraments, the concept of sacrifice in Christian tradition, the significance of Christ's suffering, the symbolism of sacraments as sacrifices, biblical themes in Daniel 4, and the relationship between Christ's Passion, sacrifice, and resurrection.
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Pierced Side Connects Passion To Baptism And Eucharist
- St Thomas links Christ's pierced side (blood and water) to baptism and Eucharist as the principal sacraments deriving power from the Passion.
- Aquinas sees the Passion as the foundational visible sign whose water and blood prefigure baptismal death and Eucharistic nourishment.
Threefold Definition Of Sacrifice In Aquinas
- Aquinas defines three senses of sacrifice: strict (physical alteration), analogical external (external acts ordered to worship), and interior (internal offering).
- Strict sacrifice involves consuming or damaging the offered thing; interior sacrifice is primary and exterior acts serve as its sign.
Sacraments As Efficacious Hylomorphic Signs
- A Christian sacrament is an efficacious sign combining matter (gesture/thing) and form (words) that effects sanctifying grace.
- Aquinas treats sacraments analogously to hylomorphism: form informs matter to make holiness present and operative.