Sacramental Liturgy

The sacrament is a ritual dimension of worship sacred. Believers believe it produces an effect which the source is God who gives grace. They are the symbol and means of a covenant between God and men.

Signs to designate their worship, Christians have first used the word mystery, mysterion Greek, then Latin and finally the Latin mysterium sacramentum.

The Latin pre-Christian

The word in Latin sacrementum had pre-Christian double meaning: a) the deposit (in kind or cash) deposited in the temple by both parties on trial, b) the oath (a term formed from the root-sacred "sacred, separate), accompanying the deposition of the bond. Who committed and engaged to one per sacramentum sacratio, ie d. become sacer (cursed the gods) if he failed in his oath. According to Roman law, the man lost his persona became sacer (personality) and his nomen: no longer issue or rights or duties, he was handed over to civil death - which could extend to physical death. A redemptio however, could allow him to recover his persona.

Integration of the word in Christianity

It is Tertullian who gave the term sacramentum meaning Christian. It applies not only to many prophetic signs of Scripture (timber, name of Jesus ...), but also to the Eucharist (or sacramentum Eucharistiae sacramentum panis and winemaking), and especially at baptism. This is because for him the paradigm of the sacramental: Is not the sacrament of faith sworn oath (sacramentum fidei) by which the Christian is dedicated to sacratio in case of infidelity?

The portion of mysterion Greek sacramentum in Latin rather than mysterium leads gradually in the early days of Christianity to a deeper understanding in legal Latin.

Understanding by the various Christian Churches

In Christianity , the sacrament is a "visible and effective sign of God's love." The person receiving the sacrament received through him the "gift of the Spirit. "

Until the late Middle Ages

Ancient times knew no sacramental controversy concerning what is later called the effectiveness of the sacraments, especially baptism (including virtually what later became the West's confirmation) and the Eucharist.

Initial discussion of 4th-5th centuries to refine the understanding of the sacraments. On the one hand, the gift of God in the sacraments (sacramenta) is totally free, and it does not depend on the subjective dispositions of the minister or the recipient subject, on the other hand, however, the reception of this gift as a gift (its fructuosit, or better, its fertility) is itself a function of personal disposition of the subject.

In the ^twelfth century , mysterium is no longer employed to describe the action of worship, which is sacramentum triumph in this field. theologians of the time list, as appropriate, and without wishing to establish an exhaustive list, four sacraments ( Lanfranc ), five ( Abelard ), ten (St Bernard of Clairvaux ), twelve (St Peter Damian ). Now is the time for clarification and accuracy.

After long theological debates about the purpose and causality of these signs are the sacraments, there are the sacraments of sacramentals : only the sacraments were instituted by Christ and "enacted" by the Apostles and only they provide that grace infallibly 'they mean. The roles of Peter Lombard and St. Thomas Aquinas are essential in this process.

The Second Council of Lyons (1274) finally fixed the number of sacraments to seven

The sacrament of baptism "in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" is mutually recognized as valid by all the churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant), as the understanding of its meaning is the same and it is not essential that this is an ordained minister who confers.

In the churches Catholic and Orthodox

The seven sacraments of the Catholic and Orthodox:

• The baptism ,
• The Eucharist ,
• The confirmation for the Catholic Church, the chrismation for the Orthodox Church
• The Sacrament of Reconciliation (also called the sacrament of penance),
• The Anointing of the Sick (also called the Sacrament of the Sick, formerly extreme unction)
• The marriage ,
• The Sacrament of Orders ,

We distinguish:

• The sacraments of initiation: baptism , confirmation , eucharist (the first two being received once and leaving an indelible mark)
• The Sacraments of Healing: Reconciliation , Anointing of the Sick (received whenever necessary),
• The sacraments of service: Wedding , College.

There can also:

• Characters in the sacraments: baptism , confirmation , order that marks the soul of the faithful ^{In the Protestant churches}

  The Protestant churches define the sacrament as a sign associated with the Word of God, the (= makes present) the Christ , the gift of God to humans, as he himself has established in the New Testament.

  Generally, they recognize that baptism and the Lord's Supper (or Eucharist ) as the sacraments, basically because the definition of sacrament is another. However, some Lutheran churches recognize as the sacrament penance too. The sacraments are effective for faith, by the action of the Holy Spirit.

  The Quakers do not recognize any sacrament. The salvation Army does not practice any sacrament.

  Protestant baptism is recognized by Catholics and Orthodox , and vice versa, with the exception of certain currents which renamed their members. For example, evangelical Protestants baptize professing. The Orthodox perform the rite of Chrismation on becoming baptized Orthodox Protestants had it not been done before.

  Protestantism practice (with slight differences Churches) the confirmation and the blessing of marriage and the consecration pastoral (or ordained ), without considering them as sacraments. The confession appears more pastoral dialogue, and there is naturally a spiritual dying, but no special event, let alone sacramental, is associated with these two areas (except in some churches practice anointing with oil for patients).

  The Anglican Church

  The Anglican Church (low church) practice baptism and the Eucharist, recognizes some value in the sacrament of confirmation and a lower value to the four other sacraments.

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Theological approaches

  • Constantine Andronikof , sacramental Mysteries, Paris, Cerf, 1998. perspective rooted in Orthodoxy
  • Henri Bourgeois - Bernard Sesbo - Paul Tihon , signs of salvation, the sacraments, the Church, the Virgin Mary. Paris 1995 (coll. History of Dogma 3).
  • Louis-Marie Chauvet , Symbol and Sacrament. A replay of the sacramental Christian life. Paris, Cerf, 1987 (cogitatio fidei 144).
  • Louis-Marie Chauvet , the Sacraments, in: Encyclopedia Catholicism Volume 13 (1993) 326-361.
  • Andre Duval , the sacraments at the Council of Trent. Paris 1985 (coll. Rites and Symbols 16).
  • Paul Evdokimov , The prayer of the Church of the East. Paris 1985
  • Arnaud Join-Lambert , celebrate the sacraments: action and prophetic language, in: Handbook of Practical Theology. Ed. Gilles Routhier - Marcel Viau. Brussels - Quebec - Paris, 2nd ed. plus, 2007 (coll. Theologies practices) P. 551-562.
  • Pierre Jounel , celebration of the sacraments. Paris 1983.
  • Henry Mottu , prophetic gesture, a practice of Protestant sacraments, Geneva, Labor et Fides, 1998.
  • Jean-Philippe Revel , A Treatise of the Sacraments. I. Baptism and sacramental. Vol. 1. Origin and meaning of baptism. Paris 2004 (Divinity) Vol. 2. Donation and receipt of baptismal grace. Paris 2005 II. Confirmation. Paris 2006.
  • Edward Schillebeeckx , Christ, the sacrament of encounter with God. Hi theological study of the sacraments, Paris, Cerf, 1997 References
  1. See Saint Thomas Aquinas: s: Summa Theologica - Part 3, Question 63

  See also

  • Christianity portal

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