Introduction: The Sacraments and Justification

The justification of the sinner, with which we have dealt in a previous treatise,¹ is ordinarily not a purely internal and invisible process or series of acts, but requires the instrumentality of external visible signs instituted by Jesus Christ, which either confer grace² or augment³ it.

Such visible means of grace are called Sacraments.⁴

The source and well-spring of all grace under the present dispensation is the Sacrifice of the Cross, from which redemptive power flows into the souls of men through the Sacraments and the Mass. This consideration led St. Thomas to regard the Passion of Our Divine Saviour as the foundation-stone of the dogmatic treatise on the Sacraments. The importance of this treatise, from both the theoretical and the practical point of view, is in turn evident from the fact that the grace of the Atonement cannot in the present economy effect justification in the individual soul without the use of the Sacraments, in re, or at least in voto.

Following the example of the Tridentine Council,⁵ modern theologians are wont to introduce the treatise on the Sacraments with an explanation of the nature, operation, and requisites of Sacraments in general.⁶ Besides obviating the need of constant repetition, this introduction serves to show that the Sacraments are closely connected by a common bond and together constitute an organic unit.

The present volume contains, besides this general introduction De Sacramentis in Genere, the special treatises on Baptism and Confirmation. The next volume will be devoted entirely to the Holy Eucharist, the following one to Penance, while a fourth will deal with Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.