Which of the sacraments is the most important? Baptism seems like a good candidate. It washes
away sin, infuses grace and virtue, makes one to be a child of God, admits one to the
reception of the other sacraments, opens the door of heaven. Pretty excellent. But a case
can also be made for the Eucharist. While the other sacraments contain Christ sacramentally,
the Eucharist contains him both sacramentally and substantially. Christ is present in the Eucharist
in powerful and peculiar fashion, body, blood, soul, and divinity, also impressive.
But how about from the vantage of a baptized person falling into sin? From this position,
in the throws of spiritual bankruptcy, baptism cannot be repeated and the Eucharist cannot grow
an absent grace. Thus, in the case of the spiritually sick,
the greatest sacrament, or perhaps simply the timeliest sacrament, is the Sacrament of Penance.
St. Thomas knew well the power of the Sacrament of Penance, for this was the
last topic in the Summa Theologiae that he ever attempted. It was while writing the treatise on
penance that he had a mystical vision leading him to lay down his work. And so perhaps we can
draw a connection between the Sacrament of Forgiveness and the majesty that he beheld.
St. Thomas describes the Sacrament of Penance in a way similar to the
sacraments that have gone before. Recall, a sacrament is a sign of a sacred thing
making men holy, and it corresponds to a certain dimension of our spiritual life.
As baptism corresponds to birth, so penance corresponds to healing. To convey just what
this healing entails, St. Thomas uses the tripartite formula that we have seen before.
St. Thomas first identifies the sign itself, or the sacramentum tantum.
The sacramentum tantum is the form and matter of the sacrament. For penance, the matter is the
sins confessed, all mortal sins committed since one's last valid confession, and the venial sins
one chooses to include. The form is absolution conferred by the priest. So the penitent sinner
by deed and word shows his heart to have renounced sin. And in like matter, the priest by his deed
and word with regard to the penitent, signifies the work of God who forgives sins. These taken
together make for a kind of sacramental concelebration in an integral confession.
But beyond the mere sign, what precisely is communicated? Here, St. Thomas distinguishes
between the intermediate effect of the sacrament and its final effect. The intermediate effect we
have called the res et sacramentum, or abiding sacrament. It is both thing and sacrament,
because it is an initial grace of the sacrament, while serving also to signify a further grace.
In the Sacrament of Penance, the res et sacramentum is the contrition of the penitent.
On the one hand, the penitent needs to approach the sacrament with a modicum of sorrow for his
sins and fear of punishment they incur. This we call attrition or imperfect contrition.
But on the other hand, the sacrament itself in restoring charity, works to confer perfect
contrition on the penitent, filling up what is lacking and moving the soul from
a servile fear of punishment to a filial fear that deplores the thought of offending God.
Beyond the intermediate effect, there is the final effect or grace of the sacrament. We call this the
res tantum. In the Sacrament of Penance, the grace communicated, or res tantum, is the reconciliation
of the sinner to God. When sacramental absolution is conferred, grace is infused,
the soul is turned to God and turned from sin, and all sin, both mortal and venial, is remitted.
With the return of grace comes the return of virtues, merits and former spiritual standing.
For a true confession, the penitent must present the three integral parts of the sacrament.
Contrition, confession, and satisfaction. Contrition, we have seen,
is just the penitence whereby one cultivates a moderate sorrow and detestation for past sins
with the intention of removing them. Confession is the accurate and precise recounting of past sins
to the minister of the sacrament. By confession, one submits himself to the priest who stands in
the place of Christ the just judge. Satisfaction names the intention and action on the part of the
penitent to make up for what he has done. In satisfaction, one voluntarily adopts
the prescribed penance to atone for the temporal punishment associated with sin. By conjoining his
will with God's will for his reform, the penitent cooperates in the rectification of his heart
and the intensification of charity that effectively blots out the stain of sin.
The Sacrament of Penance is often paired
in these discussions with the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, commonly called anointing of the sick.
Both sacraments are sacraments of healing. Penance, in ordinary circumstances of
post-baptismal sin, Extreme Unction at the end of life. Extreme Unction is instituted for supplying
what is lacking to the soul at the end of its pilgrimage. Again, we can use the tripartite
formula to unpack the content of the sacrament. We thus return to the sacramentum tantum, which names
the form and matter of the sacrament. For Extreme Unction, the matter is the laying on of hands
and the anointing of the afflicted person with blessed oil. The form is the prayer offered by
the priest. Taken together they constitute the sacramental sign. Passing from sign to grace,
we can again distinguish between the intermediate effect and the final effect, what we have called
the res et sacramentum and the res tantum. In the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick,
the res et sacramentum is the sanctification of the individual's state of suffering as
he is incorporated more fully into the suffering and healing Christ.
The sacrament imparts a graced power whereby to make efficacious use of the bodily affliction
and to serve further as a sign of the Lord at work in his body, the Church.
As for the res tantum of the sacrament, the grace of Extreme Unction is multiforme. Principally,
it is ordered to healing the sickness of sin. Whereas baptism affects a spiritual regeneration
and penance, a spiritual resurrection, Extreme Unction affects a spiritual healing or cure.
It is not intended principally to heal mortal sin, as this is the purpose of penance, but St.
Thomas writes, "It is a remedy for the defects that deprive man of perfect vigor for the life of
grace and glory." By defects, he means a certain weakness and unfitness, the result in us of actual
or original sin. Thus, the sacrament is intended principally to confer a spiritual strength that
prepares the soul for the trial of perseverance and the fullness of Christian life in glory.
But since this strength is given by grace,
which cannot co-exist with sin, the sacrament can also remit both the fault and the punishment
of mortal and venial sin. This of course, provided the recipient poses no obstacle to
the remission. St. Thomas goes on to say that the sacrament can also confer
bodily healing if such a recovery is propitious for the spiritual health of the individual.
In both of these sacraments, we see again the delicacy of the Lord's design, for he has provided
for the bestowal of grace unto the consolation and fortification of each human heart.
By these many signs and instruments of Christ's incarnate presence in the world,
the reign of the Kingdom of God is made living and effective in potent fashion.
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