Article — Noldin, Summa of Moral Theology
Article First. On the Minister Himself
17. Notions. 1. The minister of the sacraments is said to be he who performs, in Christ's name, the sacred rite instituted by Christ. The principal minister of the sacraments, namely he in whose name the sacraments are confected and administered, is Christ Himself. The secondary minister of the sacraments is he who dispenses the sacraments in the name of Christ. Therefore man acts as the minister of Christ and as an instrumental cause in administering the sacraments.
a. Concerning the secondary minister, this must be recalled from dogmatic theology: only man as a wayfarer is a minister of the sacraments; yet not every man can administer all sacraments, but only he can administer sacraments validly to whom there belongs a power divinely conferred, because God alone can bring it about that the action of the minister confers grace.
b. Because the minister of the sacraments is an instrumental cause, and that a human and rational one, his deliberate will must flow into the sacramental action; for only by the fact that deliberate will flows into the sacrament can he in a human manner be its cause.
The secondary minister is twofold, ordinary and extraordinary. He is called ordinary who, by the power which he has, can dispense the sacrament on any occasion, and does not need some special commission; he is called extraordinary who can administer the sacrament only in a case of necessity and by special delegation.
A consecrated minister is distinguished, who in a special way has been deputed by the Church for confecting the sacraments, and a non-consecrated minister, who has not been specially deputed by the Church for confecting the sacraments.
Five sacraments require a consecrated minister: confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, and order; baptism, because of its supreme necessity, can be validly administered by any man; but for confecting matrimony it was not necessary to depute a minister specially, because it is administered by the contracting parties themselves.
- A public and private minister is distinguished; public is he who administers a sacrament by special deputation of the Church with the prescribed solemnity; private is he who, in a case of necessity, without solemnity, administers a sacrament by the general permission and concession of the Church.
Not only any layman administers a sacrament privately, but also a priest who, in a case of necessity, baptizes without solemnity: for in this case he acts not as a public minister of the Church, but as a private person.
Article Second. On the Requisites for Valid Administration
Since it is one thing to administer a sacrament validly and another to administer a sacrament licitly, some conditions are required for valid administration and others for licit administration of a sacrament. Now what conditions must be present in the minister, whether for valid or for licit administration, must be explained in the following sections.
1 Cf. Pesch VI, n. 228 ss.