Introduction to the Sacraments
BREIF HISTORY ON THE SACRAMENTS Around the year 210 a Christian writer named Tertullian first used the Latin word sacramentum in a sense similar to how Catholic Christians use the word sacrament today. At the time, Roman religious rites such as the initiation ceremony for young Romans entering the army were called sacramenta. In his writings on baptism, Tertullian borrowed the word to describe this Christian ritual. Eventually, sacramenta was used to describe a whole variety of religious rituals practiced by Christians.
Christians of this historical period looked to the very early church writings such as: St Paul s Epistles Acts of the Apostles to find models for their rituals, faith, practices an sacramenta. When new cultural groups converted to Christianity, their traditional religious rites were often mingled or combined with those already in use by Christians. For example:
In the years following 395 C.E. Saint Augustine of Hippo introduced a way of talking about the sacraments that is still sometimes used today. For Augustine, the sacrament of baptism imprinted a new character upon the soul of a person, a character that could not be taken away. This character was said to be administered through the sacrament and thus received by the person. Eventually the other sacraments were spoken of in these terms as well.
Today there is a move away from this way of talking about the sacraments. Instead, Christians speak about participating in or celebrating the sacraments. This mode of thought requires a more active human role. According to Augustine, anything could be considered a sacrament, or a sign of God because all of creation was a reflection of God. He thought of sacraments in the broad sense as signs of a sacred thing. To him, sacraments included not only rituals such as baptism but also, The sign of the cross The lord s prayer (Our Father) Oil of anointing
Augustine also believed that some sacraments were more important than other. He listed these sacraments of greater importance into two categories:
In fact, there were as many as 30 sacraments listed at one time! It would take more than 800 years before the church restricted its use of the word sacrament to the seven official ones celebrated by the church today. In the 12 th century, the second council of Lyons affirmed that there were only seven official sacraments of the church.
One of the most significant contributions to the understanding of the sacraments came from St. Thomas Aquinas. He came to understand the sacraments as causes of God s grace. Not only were sacraments signs of a sacred reality, as Augustine had taught, but they also served as instruments which brought about God s grace. As the years past, people began to overemphasize and distort Thomas Aquinas s idea of sacraments as causes of God s grace.
As a result, many people put their faith in the proper performance of the ritual rather than in any meaning or experience underlying a ritual. This led to a magical or superstitious attitude toward religion in general and may of the church s practices. Correct forms and the proper performance of certain actions or rituals were thought to automatically guarantee special graces. Here are some examples of people s magical thinking: Staring at a crucifix would guarantee a male child to be born Touching certain relics of saints would guarantee the performance of a miracle Making a donation of money to the church would release a loved one from purgatory
It was assumed that the sacrament always took in the person regardless of whether the person s heart was receptive to it or whether the person had faith in Jesus. Much like a virus causes a fever in a human body you get sick even though you were never willing to receive it. The importance of the intent or disposition of the person receiving the sacrament was overlooked.
It is important to note however that the church s stance on this matter has always taught that a sacrament will have an effect on a person according to the person s disposition to it. A superstitious attitude suggest that God s power can be bought, bargained for or manipulated to suit one s needs. Superstition fails to distinguish magic from religion; it represents an attempt to control rather than accept God s power.
In order to address the common misunderstanding of church teachings, the Council of Trent was organized in 1545 and they met on and off until 1563. Although they discussed other matters the council mainly focused on the sacraments and the rituals and sacraments associated with them. Two main points stressed by the council about the sacraments are as follows:
As a result of these changes no new ways of thinking or talking about the sacraments were permitted and an official book on the rites of the sacraments was published. These official books imposed greater uniformity in how the sacraments were practiced - including The language used (Latin) The words said The actions used and The practice of these actions.
In other words no changes could be made in the practice of the sacraments even if one wanted them to fit the changing culture of that time period. These teaching redefined Catholicism for the next 400 years until the second Vatican council met in 1962. THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL Eventually Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council in the 1960 s. This council questioned the appropriateness of continuing the Council of Trent s rigid approach to the sacraments given the cultural changes that occurred in the world and in the church itself. As a result the church committed itself to renewal based on its origins and its long history.