Article — Noldin, Summa of Moral Theology
Article One. Concerning the Nature Itself of Order.
448. Definition. Order is a sacrament by which, through the imposition of the hand and the words of the bishop, spiritual power is conferred and at the same time grace for duly carrying out sacred duties.
a. The name of order is taken in a twofold sense, active and passive. Actively it signifies that sacred action through which spiritual power is conferred, and in this sense it is also called ordination. Passively it can signify two things: first, the effect produced by ordination, namely sacred power; then also the company of those who in the Church are furnished with this sacred power and constitute the hierarchy or hierarchical order.
b. The proposed definition sets forth only the order which is a sacrament; but by usage received from all, under the name of orders there are comprehended also orders which are not sacraments. St. Thomas proposes a definition which sets forth all orders, both sacramental and non-sacramental: "A certain seal of the Church, an ecclesiastical rite, by which spiritual power is handed over to the one ordained."2
c. The spiritual power which is conferred in ordination is indeed manifold, but the principal one is the power of confecting and administering the sacraments, among which the Eucharist is preeminent. To this power several others are added, such as the power of consecrating, blessing, etc. All orders and their manifold power are in some way referred to the Eucharist, either so that it can be confected and distributed, or so that the faithful may be duly prepared for receiving it.3
1 St. Thomas, Supplementum, q. 34-40; St. Alphonsus, l. 6, n. 734-830; Sporer-Bierbaum, Theologia sacram. III, tract. 7, n. 197-337; Coninck, De sacramentis II, disp. 20; Gasparri, De sacra ordinatione (Parisiis: Delhome, 1893); Ballerini-Palmieri, Opus theolog. moral., 3rd ed., V, n. 882 ss.; Chr. Pesch, Praelectiones dogmaticae VII, De sacramento ordinis, n. 383-678; Fr. Wieland, Die genetische Entwicklung der sog. Ordines minores in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten, 7th Supplement-Heft of the Roman Quarterly (Freiburg: Herder, 1897); Gutberlet, "Der sakramentale Ritus der Priesterweihe," Zeitschrift fur k. Theologie 1901, p. 621 ff.; Rett, Fragen uber Materie, Form und Spender der Sakramente, Weidenauer Studien, Bd. 4, p. 273; Van Rossum, De essentia sacramenti ordinis (Friburgi: Herder, 1914).
3 St. Thomas, q. 37, a. 2.
449. Number of Orders. In the Latin Church seven orders are numbered: the ostiariate, lectorate, exorcistate, acolyte, subdiaconate, diaconate, and priesthood, which is twofold: the lesser priesthood, which is called the presbyterate, and the greater priesthood, which is called the episcopate. The four prior orders are called minor orders; the others are called greater and sacred. Tonsure is premised to orders.
a. In the Greek Church now before the presbyterate only the diaconate, subdiaconate, and lectorate are conferred, of which the two latter are considered minor orders. If a cleric who received minor orders in an oriental rite is going to receive sacred orders in the Latin rite, he must first receive the omitted orders, Cn. 1004.
b. The greater orders are called sacred both because their acts are concerned with consecrated matter, the presbyterate and diaconate with the body and blood of Christ, the subdiaconate with consecrated vessels; and because annexed to them is the obligation of preserving celibacy and of reciting the divine office.
c. All orders, from the unity of the end to which they are referred, constitute only one sacrament, since all are ordered to the one sacrament and sacrifice of the Eucharist.