Chapter — Gury-Ballerini, Compendium of Moral Theology (8th ed., 1884)
Chapter IV. On the Subject of the Sacraments
- The subject of a Sacrament is called he who receives the Sacrament, and is capable of the effect of the Sacrament.
The subject of the Sacraments is only man as wayfarer; because, as is plain from Sacred Scripture and tradition, the Sacraments were instituted for wayfaring men alone. Yet not all men are capable of all the Sacraments. For neither women can receive the Sacrament of Order, nor children not yet using reason can receive the Sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction.
The reason a priori why only wayfaring man is capable of the Sacraments is the will of Christ the Lord, the institutor of the Sacraments. But the reason of fittingness is that according to the order of present Providence, only wayfaring man is capable of first grace or an increase of grace; but of this kind are not the Blessed or souls detained in purgatory, for whom the measure of glory corresponding to the grace which they had in mortal life has already been determined. But the damned are much less capable of grace, as being already separated from God for eternity. With these things posited, we must treat of the requisites both for the valid and for the licit reception of the Sacraments.