Question IV. The Sacraments

In the three Questions that preceded we spoke of the means by which man is sanctified and is enabled to secure supernatural rewards through the merits of his own works; for the virtues make their possessor as well as his acts morally righteous, while through God’s grace the good deeds done for His sake entitle the doer to the crown of eternal life. In the present Question we pass on to consider certain means by which God is honored by man and man is sanctified through the application to his soul of the merits and passion of Christ; for the Sacraments were instituted by Christ both as external acts of religion (2175, 2244) and as most powerful agencies to begin, restore, and increase the life of holiness.

It should be observed, first, that the present work is concerned with Moral Theology; and, secondly, that it must be confined within the limited number of pages which a two-volume production of convenient size necessitates. Hence the reader will understand why in the Question now beginning we speak only of man’s duties in reference to the Sacraments, and omit other points that do not so strictly pertain to Moral. (a) Thus, the nature, institution, number and effects of the Sacraments belong to Dogma, which the authors hope to treat later in a similar work. (b) The administration of the Sacraments, their rites, rubrics, ceremonies are set forth in ritual books and works on liturgy. (c) The legal rights of ministers, canonical requirements on registration, penal and processual legislation in reference to the Sacraments, and like juridical questions are treated fully in commentaries on pertinent sections of the Code.