Article — Noldin, Summa of Moral Theology
Article Two. On Matrimony as It Is a Sacrament.
505. Definition. Matrimony, as it is a sacrament, can be defined: the matrimonial contract entered between baptized persons capable by law, by which grace is signified and conferred ex opere operato. Or, according to the analogy of the other sacraments: matrimony is a sacrament by which, through the mutual handing over and acceptance by man and woman of power over the body, grace is conferred for sanctifying their union.
a. Only matrimony in fieri is a sacrament properly so called, producing grace ex opere operato; matrimony in facto esse is not a sacrament properly so called, but the matrimonial state arisen from sacramental consent, which can be called a sacrament in a broader sense to this extent, insofar as it signifies the union of Christ with the Church.
b. The matrimonial state consists in the conjugal bond, or in the mutual rights and obligations by which the spouses are bound to one another. Both the natural contract and the sacramental contract produce an indissoluble bond, but with this difference, that the bond arisen from a sacramental contract has a greater and peculiar firmness.
506. Assertions. 1. Christian matrimony is truly a sacrament of the new law.
a. That the matrimonial contract entered by an external sign was raised by Christ to a sacrament is clear from the definition of the Council of Trent: "If anyone shall say that matrimony is not truly and properly one of the seven sacraments of the evangelical law instituted by Christ, let him be anathema."1 From the sources of revelation dogmatic theologians show that the matrimonial contract by the institution of Christ is an efficacious sign of grace.2
b. Matrimony can be called a sacrament in a twofold sense: in the broad sense, insofar as it is a sacred thing, in which sense the marriages of infidels also are called sacraments; in the proper sense, insofar as the matrimony of the faithful is a true sacrament of the new law.
- The sacrament of matrimony does not differ from the matrimonial contract, but the matrimonial contract itself was raised by Christ to the dignity of a sacrament, so that the matrimonial contract cannot be separated from the sacrament. Hence it is that among Christians (even heretics and schismatics) a matrimonial contract cannot be had without at the same time having the sacrament of matrimony.3
a. This question, formerly disputed, has in recent time been defined by various declarations of the supreme pontiffs. Pius IX proscribed this proposition: "The sacrament of matrimony is nothing except something accessory to the contract and separable from it";4 Leo XIII declares: "No distinction of this kind can be approved, since it is evident that in Christian matrimony the contract cannot be separated from the sacrament; and therefore a true and legitimate contract cannot exist without being by that very fact a sacrament. For Christ the Lord increased matrimony with the dignity of a sacrament; but matrimony is the contract itself, provided it has been made according to law."5 The cited canon (1012, 2) proposes the same doctrine.
b. If Christian contracting parties absolutely do not wish to receive the sacrament, they do not enter a valid matrimony either; for he who does not wish the sacrament cannot wish true matrimony either. But if they wish to enter true matrimony, they also receive the sacrament, although they do not wish to effect the sacrament; for those who contract in this way in fact have two intentions, one of contracting true matrimony, the other of excluding the sacrament; now if the prior intention prevails, the other is destroyed through it. But the prior intention will prevail the more easily because contracting parties for the most part do not know that matrimony and sacrament cohere with one another by an indissoluble bond.
c. Therefore even matrimony entered between absent persons is a true sacrament, just as it is a true contract. Wherefore one contracting through a procurator must take care that he is in the state of grace at that time at which the contract is perfected; for at the same time he receives the sacrament. It is clear that not the procurator, but the principal agent, is the minister of the sacrament; likewise that the matter and form of the sacrament are not the consent of the procurator but of the principal agent. Therefore a procurator who is in the state of sin at the time at which he contracts for another does not sin.
1 Council of Trent, sess. 24, can. 1. Cn. 1012, 1.
2 Pesch VII, n. 699 ff.
3 Cn. 1012, 2.
4 Syllabus, condemned proposition 66; cf. also prop. 83.
5 Encyclical Arcanum, February 10, 1880.
507. Matter and Form. Since the matrimonial contract is not distinguished from the sacrament, the matter and form of the sacrament are the same as the matter and form of the contract.
a. The remote matter is the bodies of the contracting parties, or the right over bodies, which the contracting parties mutually hand over to each other; the proximate matter is the mutual handing over itself of this right, expressed by a sensible sign.
b. The form of the sacrament is the mutual acceptance of the right, expressed by a sensible sign. And because the handing over and acceptance are signified by words from the precept of the Church, it can also be said that the words by which the mutual handing over and acceptance of the right is impressed constitute the matter and form of the sacrament: the matter, insofar as they express the handing over of the right; the form, insofar as they express the acceptance of the same.
508. The Ministers of this sacrament are the contracting parties themselves; for if the sacrament does not differ from the contract, those effecting the contract also effect the sacrament. And indeed this doctrine, formerly controverted, today has been placed beyond every doubt.1
Nevertheless both the faithful who are ignorant that they are ministers of the sacrament and heretics who do not believe matrimony to be a sacrament, and therefore do not explicitly intend to effect a sacrament, confer the sacrament. The former do so because they have the general intention of doing what the rest of the faithful do when entering matrimony, and therefore of doing what Christ instituted; heretics, however, do so because for the most part they have at least the general intention of contracting as Christians contract in the Church instituted by Christ, which intention suffices for conferring the sacrament. But for receiving the sacrament of matrimony in baptized persons, matrimonial consent suffices, provided the character of sacrament is not expressly excluded; for by the very fact that they wish the matrimonial contract, they implicitly wish also the sacrament.
1 Cf. Pesch VII, n. 868 ff.
509. The Subject of Matrimony, insofar as this constitutes a mere contract, is any human being made incapable by no impediment of natural or divine law.1
The subject of matrimony, insofar as it at the same time constitutes a sacrament, is any baptized human being made incapable by no impediment of natural, divine, or ecclesiastical law.
a. Therefore between two infidels matrimony cannot be anything except a contract, and is not a sacrament except in the broader sense.
b. If two infidel spouses are converted to the faith, their matrimony by the very reception of baptism becomes a sacrament without express or tacit renewal of consent. This opinion today can be called certain, after the Roman pontiffs expressly declared that every matrimony between the faithful is a sacrament. And indeed, on the one hand, the union of infidels after baptism has been received perfectly represents the union of Christ and the Church; on the other hand, conjugal consent virtually perseveres; therefore all things are present which are required so that their matrimony can become a sacrament without renewal of consent.
c. Whether matrimony in the faithful party is a sacrament if a faithful person contracts with an infidel through dispensation of the pontiff, or if one of two infidel spouses is converted to the faith, is not clear. Sanchez, with many others, more probably denies it; for the matrimonial contract which is elevated to a sacrament is one, effected by both contracting parties; there are not two partial contracts from which one total contract coalesces. Therefore, in order that it can be a sacrament, each contracting party must be capable of the sacrament, just as, in order that it be a contract, each must be capable of contracting.
1 Cn. 1035: All can contract matrimony who are not prohibited by law.
510. Matrimony Enjoys the Favor of Law.1 This signifies:
a. If the celebration is established, the matrimony must be held valid until its nullity is proved. Hence the principle: In doubt, whether of law or of fact, one must stand for the value of matrimony.
b. If the celebration is not established, the same principle holds, provided the joined persons themselves and others think the union is legitimate. If, however, the nullity of the doubtful matrimony redounds to the harm of the faith, it is declared null, because in a doubtful matter the privilege of the faith enjoys the favor of law.2 Therefore doubtful marriages of converted infidels are declared invalid.
1 Cn. 1014.
2 Cn. 1127.
511. Effects of Matrimony. The effects of matrimony are manifold: some are supernatural, which follow from matrimony as sacrament; others natural, both canonical and civil, which are produced from matrimony as contract. There will be discussion below concerning the effects produced from matrimony as contract.
The effects of matrimony, insofar as it is a sacrament, are: a. an increase of sanctifying grace, habits, and gifts; b. a right to actual graces necessary for the conjugal state, namely for preserving and perfecting mutual love, for keeping conjugal fidelity and chastity entire, for educating offspring well, and for bearing the burdens of matrimony in a Christian manner.
Note. The good of matrimony perfected through the sacrament is especially discerned in the good of sacrament, because matrimony receives greater firmness through the sacrament. For the more perfectly matrimony represents the indissoluble union of Christ with the Church, the greater is its indissolubility. Now the most perfect image of that union is consummated Christian matrimony, in which to the unity of souls through the contract is added the unity of bodies effected through copula. Therefore consummated Christian matrimony is simply indissoluble, just as the union of Christ and the Church is indissoluble.