The Thomistic Institute The Sacraments in the Christian Life (Part 2) | Fr. Dominic Langevin, OP
Apr 22, 2024
Fr. Dominic Langevin, OP, discusses sacraments sanctifying individuals through formalized church rituals, their physical requirements, the role of holiness, and the distinctions between Old and New Testament sacraments. The podcast also explores sacramental causality, the significance of the minister's intention, and how God's grace can reach individuals in unforeseen circumstances.
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New Law Sacraments Are Efficacious Signs
- Catholic sacraments of the New Law differ from Old Testament rites because they cause the grace they signify.
- Aquinas treats the seven New Testament sacraments as efficacious signs that confer sanctifying grace, not merely symbolic acts.
Tripartite Structure Of Sacramental Causality
- Aquinas describes a tripartite sacramental structure: exterior sign, intermediate effect, and final effective grace.
- Stage two (res et sacramenta) mediates and signifies the final sanctifying effect (res tantum) achieved in stage three.
God Saves Us In A Concretely Bodily Way
- Sacraments are properly bodily and sensorial because God saves humans according to our physical nature.
- Using bread, wine, water, oil and gestures fits our embodied lives and can be beautiful and messy, requiring reverence (e.g., purifying vessels).