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Touched by Christ: The Sacramental Economy

Talk 7. Sacramental Character 1 Sacramental Character

• The term “character” in sacramental comes from the notion of a seal that imprints an image as a sign of possession, identity, authority, or mission, as on an official document, a coin, an animal, slave, or legionary. It comes from the Greek word χαρακτήρ, which signifies a seal in both an active sense, as an instrument for marking or impressing a seal; and a passive sense, as the seal, stamp, or distinctive mark that is impressed. This sense of the word exists in English to indicate a letter stamped on a page. • Hebrews 1:3 refers to Christ as the “very stamp” (χαρακτήρ) of the Father: “He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power.” • As Christ is the perfect imprint of the Father, so the faithful have been imprinted with the stamp of the Son by the agency of the Holy Spirit in .

2 Character and Seal

• The term “character” in sacramental theology is practically synonymous with the term “seal” (in Greek, σφραγίς). • In John 6:27 He says that the people should seek not “for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has set his seal.” • Christ can give us the food of eternal life because through the mystery of the Incarnation He has been sealed by the Father with that same eternal life possessed by the Father.

3 Character and Seal

2 Corinthians 1:21–22: “But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has commissioned [anointed] us; he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

4 Character and Seal

Ephesians 1:13–14 : “In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your , and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance.” In Ephesians 4:30, Paul refers back to the seal mentioned in 1:13 in order to exhort the Ephesians to persevere in the Christian life: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of .”

5 Character and Seal

Colossians 2:11–12 connects the symbolism of circumcision and Baptism: In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ; and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Circumcision as a type of Christian initiation manifests the abiding effect of the , which continues to mark the baptized, even if their life no longer conforms to the demands of the covenant with which they have been sealed.

6 Sacramental Character and the Analogy of a Coin with the Seal of Christ Clement of Alexandria also uses the analogy of the coin with its inscription and image: For he [the Christian] has through Christ the name of God written on him and the Spirit as an image. Even brute beasts through their branding show whose is the flock, and the branding-mark establishes a claim to them. Thus the soul of the believer, which has received the seal of truth, bears the marks of Christ upon it. (Clement of Alexandria, Ecloga 86)

7 Sacramental Character and St. Augustine’s Analogy of a Legionary’s Brand “Similarly with those who possess the baptism of Christ; if they return to unity, we do not change or destroy their title, but we acknowledge the title of our King, the title of our Commander. What are we to say? O wretched patrimony, let Him whose title you bear own you; you bear the title of Christ, do not be the property of Donatus.” (Augustine, Second Discourse on Psalm 21.31, in St. Augustine On the Psalms, 1:228.)

8 Three Meanings of the Seal

• A seal thus has three principal purposes: to show permanent identity, to give an abiding mission to a person (as to a soldier or minister), and to confer delegated power to someone to be able to carry out his mission. Sacramental character is an invisible word or seal that has all three of these meanings, in an analogous way.

9 Catechism of the Catholic , §§1295–96 on the Sacramental Seal By this anointing the confirmand receives the “mark,” the seal of the Holy Spirit. A seal is a symbol of a person, a sign of personal authority, or ownership of an object. Hence soldiers were marked with their leader’s seal and slaves with their master’s. A seal authenticates a juridical act or document and occasionally makes it secret. Christ himself declared that he was marked with his Father’s seal [Jn 6:27]. Christians are also marked with a seal: “It is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has commissioned us; he has put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” This seal of the Holy Spirit marks our total belonging to Christ, our enrollment in his service for ever, as well as the promise of divine protection in the great eschatological trial.

10 Rebaptism Controversy

• In the third and fourth centuries, a fierce controversy arose in North Africa over whether Baptism imparted by heretics or schismatics is valid, and thus whether or not those baptized by heretics or schismatics should be re-baptized when they return to the unity of the Church. • St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage from AD 249–257, vigorously argued for the invalidity of heretical and schismatic . This meant that those baptized in a heretical or schismatic sect who returned to Catholic unity needed to be baptized. • Pope Stephen I and later St. Augustine argued for the opposite position, holding with Tradition that Baptism is valid even when the minister is a heretic, schismatic, or lapsed in persecution, provided the essential elements of the sacramental sign are conserved. Stephen based himself on the ancient practice of Rome.

11 Rebaptism Controversy

St. Augustine saw this practice as belonging to apostolic Tradition on account of its universality: This custom, which I believe comes from apostolic tradition, like the many things that are not found in the [apostles’] writings or in the councils of those who followed them, and yet, because they are preserved by the universal Church, are believed to have been handed down and commended by none but them.

12 Rebaptism Controversy

• St. Cyprian argued that Baptism outside the unity of the Church, which is illicit, could not give grace, because grace and go together and there cannot be charity outside of communion with the Church. This meant that heretical or schismatic Baptism would be both illicit and unfruitful. St. Cyprian also took it to mean that it could not be valid, which is where his position departed from that of Pope Stephen and the universal tradition of the Church. • His position presupposes that if the effect of grace is not produced, nothing is effected. What he did not consider is that Baptism could be valid, producing an abiding and indelible effect, while still being unfruitful with regard to grace and salvation as long as the baptized remains culpably outside of the Church.

13 Rebaptism Controversy St. Augustine against the Donatists “For, just as those who return to the Church, who were baptized before they left, are not rebaptized, neither by any means are those who return, who were ordained before they left, re- ordained, but they either confer what they used to confer, if the Church’s wellbeing demands it, or, if they do not confer it, they nonetheless retain the sacrament of their ordination.” (On Baptism 1.1.2)

14 Rebaptism Controversy

• St. Augustine deduces from this practice of the Church that the sacrament must somehow abide, even when unfruitful, precisely so that it can come back to life again through repentance. This applies both (a) when Baptism or are received unfruitfully outside of the Church in a heretical or schismatic sect, or in a state of mortal sin; and (b) when they are received fruitfully within the Church, but the person later (culpably) falls into heresy, schism, or apostasy, losing the fruit of grace, and then returns to the Church.

15 St. Thomas Aquinas on Sacramental Character: Abiding Christian Identity “It is a sign conferring on a man a likeness to some principal person in whom is vested the authority over that to which he is assigned: thus soldiers who are assigned to military service, are marked with their leader’s sign, by which they are, in a fashion, likened to him. And in this way those who are deputed to the Christian worship, of which Christ is the author, receive a character by which they are likened to Christ. Consequently, properly speaking, this is Christ’s character.” (ST III, q. 63, a. 3, ad 2)

16 St. Thomas Aquinas on Sacramental Character: Abiding Christian Identity “Now whenever anyone is deputed to some definite purpose he is wont to receive some outward sign thereof; thus in olden times soldiers who enlisted in the ranks used to be marked with certain characters on the body, through being deputed to a bodily service. Since, therefore, by the sacraments men are deputed to a spiritual service pertaining to the worship of God, it follows that by their means the faithful receive a certain spiritual character.” (ST III, q. 63, a. 1)

17 Abiding Christian Identity

Baptism distinguishes the members of the Church from the rest of mankind by a permanent distinguishing sign, as circumcision permanently distinguished Israelites from other peoples as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod 19:6). It is through baptismal character that the Church is a visible body made up of the baptized.

18 St. Thomas Aquinas on Sacramental Character: Share in Christ’s Priestly Mission “A character is properly a kind of seal, whereby something is marked, as being ordained to some particular end: thus a coin is marked for use in exchange of goods, and soldiers are marked with a character as being deputed to military service. Now the faithful are deputed to a twofold end. First and principally to the enjoyment of glory. And for this purpose they are marked with the seal of grace according to Ezech. 9:4. . . . Second, each of the faithful is deputed to receive, or to bestow on others, things pertaining to the worship of God. And this, properly speaking, is the purpose of the sacramental character. Now the whole rite of the Christian religion is derived from Christ’s priesthood. Consequently, it is clear that the sacramental character is specially the character of Christ, to Whose priesthood the faithful are likened by reason of the sacramental characters, which are nothing else than certain participations of Christ’s Priesthood, flowing from Christ Himself.” (ST III, q. 63, a. 3)

19 St. Thomas Aquinas on Sacramental Character: Spiritual Power to Worship God “Now the worship of God consists either in receiving Divine gifts, or in bestowing them on others. And for both these purposes some power is needed; for to bestow something on others, active power is necessary; and in order to receive, we need a passive power. Consequently, a character signifies a certain spiritual power ordained unto things pertaining to the Divine worship. But it must be observed that this spiritual power is instrumental: as we have stated above (q. 62, a. 4) of the virtue which is in the sacraments. For to have a sacramental character belongs to God’s ministers: and a minister is a kind of instrument.” (ST III, q. 63, a. 2)

20 St. Thomas Aquinas on Sacramental Character: Indelible “In a sacramental character Christ’s faithful have a share in His Priesthood. . . . Now Christ’s Priesthood is eternal, according to Ps. 109:4: ‘Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech.’ Consequently, every wrought by His Priesthood, is perpetual, enduring as long as the thing sanctified endures. This is clear even in inanimate things; for the consecration of a church or an altar lasts for ever unless they be destroyed. Since, therefore, the subject of a character is the soul as to its intellective part, where faith resides; it is clear that, the intellect being perpetual and incorruptible, a character cannot be blotted out from the soul.” (ST III, q. 63, a. 5)

21 Indelible Character

Sanctifying grace is not indelible because its continuing presence depends on our free will to cooperate with it and not expel it through mortal sin. But sacramental character is like an image of Christ imprinted on the soul so that He can make use of us for the sanctification of the world. Since it is His instrument and image, it does not depend on our free will for its continued existence, but on His fidelity and power.

22 Indelible Character

The indelible nature of sacramental character explains how the sacrament can come back to life if it was received validly but unworthily—without true repentance or faith. If an adult receives Baptism, , Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick, or Matrimony without either true repentance for mortal sin or faith, then no grace will be received in that state of unrepentance. But if one subsequently repents, that repentance will take away the obstacle to efficacy, and the sacramental grace will be unleashed.

23 Indelible Character

The indelible nature of character explains how the sacrament, received once, can be the source of a long series of actual graces that last throughout one’s Christian life. Even though the outward sacramental sign has long since passed away, the ever-present character continues to cause the granting of actual graces in accordance with the purpose of each sacrament.

24 Indelible Character

The indelible nature of sacramental character gives a visibility and definition to the Church as composed of members and a hierarchy who are marked by an indelible seal. If membership in the Church or her hierarchy depended on an effect of the sacraments that is not indelible and could be lost, like sanctifying grace or charity, then it would always be very uncertain who her true members and hierarchy are.

25 Definition of Sacramental Character “If anyone says that in the three sacraments, namely, baptism, confirmation, and orders, a character is not imprinted on the soul, that is, a kind of indelible spiritual sign by reason of which these sacraments cannot be repeated, let him be anathema.” “But since in the sacrament of orders, as also in baptism and confirmation, a character is imprinted that can be neither erased nor taken away, the holy council justly condemns the opinion of those who say that priests of the New Testament have only a temporary power and that those who have once been rightly ordained can again become lay persons if they do not exercise the ministry of the word of God.”

26 St. Thomas Aquinas on the Difference between the Character of Baptism and Confirmation

“By the sacrament of Confirmation man is given a spiritual power in respect of sacred actions other than those in respect of which he receives power in Baptism. For in Baptism he receives power to do those things which pertain to his own salvation, forasmuch as he lives to himself: whereas in Confirmation he receives power to do those things which pertain to the spiritual combat with the enemies of the Faith. This is evident from the example of the apostles, who, before they received the fulness of the Holy Ghost, were in the ‘upper room … persevering … in prayer’ (Acts 1:13, 14); whereas afterwards they went out and feared not to confess their faith in public, even in the face of the enemies of the Christian Faith. And therefore it is evident that a character is imprinted in the sacrament of Confirmation.” (ST III, q. 72, a. 5)

27 Lumen Gentium §34 on the Mission of the Baptized and Confirmed Faithful “For besides intimately linking them to His life and His mission, He also gives them a sharing in His priestly function of offering spiritual worship for the glory of God and the salvation of men. For this reason the laity, dedicated to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called. . . . For all their works, prayers and apostolic endeavors, their ordinary married and family life, their daily occupations, their physical and mental relaxation, if carried out in the Spirit, and even the hardships of life, if patiently borne—all these become ‘spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ Together with the offering of ’s body, they are most fittingly offered in the celebration of the Eucharist. Thus, as those everywhere who adore in holy activity, the laity consecrate the world itself to God.” 28 John Paul II, Christifideles Laici §14 on the Priestly and Prophetic Mission of the Laity • The baptized share in the priestly office by being “united to him and to his sacrifice in the offering they make of themselves and their daily activities (cf. Rom 12:1, 2).” The lay faithful accomplish the prophetic mission when they “allow the newness and the power of the gospel to shine out everyday in their family and social life, as well as to express patiently and courageously in the contradictions of the present age their hope of future glory even ‘through the framework of their secular life.’”

29 John Paul II, Christifideles Laici §14 on the Kingly Mission of the Laity Their kingship is exercised “above all in the spiritual combat in which they seek to overcome in themselves the kingdom of sin (cf. Rom 6:12), and then to make a gift of themselves so as to serve, in justice and in charity, Jesus who is himself present in all his brothers and sisters. . . . But in particular the lay faithful are called to restore to creation all its original value. In ordering creation to the authentic well-being of humanity in an activity governed by the life of grace, they share in the exercise of the power with which the Risen Christ draws all things to himself.”

30 Priestly Mission of the Laity

“We believe that in the Church the Old Testament prophecy has been fulfilled. . . . God pours out his Spirit not upon just a certain number but upon all His people. All are charismatics since all have received the Spirit as a “pledge” of the new age to which the Church belongs while still abiding in this old age. . . . Upon entering, the believer is set apart for ministry in the Church through the sending down of the Spirit. . . . The gift of the Spirit that every member of the faithful receives in the sacrament of initiation is the charism of the royal priesthood. . . . We are not aware of how extraordinary and audacious the idea of the priestly ministry of all members of the Church is.” (Nicholas Afanasiev, Church of the Holy Spirit)

31 Priestly Mission of the Laity

“Much effort, and energy, and interest is expended by most of us in the prosecution of our ordinary careers. The care for the development of the priestly vocation that is committed to all the faithful in is something that is far more important, and requires an even higher level of energy and commitment. It is the vocation of vocations. This is the knowledge of God communicated to believers to make them prophets and priests after the chrismation. This knowledge could be described as a ‘new instinct’ for the will of God among us. It is a spiritual capacity for insight into the Scriptures, and into the very syntax of prayer, that must now be carefully nurtured.” (John McGuckin, The Orthodox Church, 286–87 )

32 Lumen Gentium §10 on the Difference between the Common and the Ministerial Priesthood “Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ. The ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the Eucharistic sacrifice, and offers it to God in the name of all the people. But the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist. They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by self- denial and active charity.”

33 Pius XII, Mediator Dei §43 on Priestly Character “In the same way actually that baptism is the distinctive mark of all Christians, and serves to differentiate them from those who have not been cleansed in this purifying stream and consequently are not members of Christ, the sacrament of holy orders sets the priest apart from the rest of the faithful who have not received this consecration. For they alone, in answer to an inward supernatural call, have entered the august ministry, where they are assigned to service in the sanctuary and become, as it were, the instruments God uses to communicate supernatural life from on high to the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. Add to this … the fact that they alone have been marked with the indelible sign “conforming” them to Christ the Priest, and that their hands alone have been consecrated in order that whatever they bless may be blessed, whatever they consecrate may become sacred and holy, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 34 Lumen Gentium §21 on the Character of the Bishop “For from the tradition, which is expressed especially in liturgical rites and in the practice of both the Church of the East and of the West, it is clear that, by means of the imposition of hands and the words of consecration, the grace of the Holy Spirit is so conferred, and the sacred character so impressed, that bishops in an eminent and visible way sustain the roles of Christ Himself as Teacher, Shepherd and High Priest, and that they act in His person. Therefore it pertains to the bishops to admit newly elected members into the Episcopal body by means of the sacrament of Orders.”

35 The Trinitarian Dimension of Sacramental Character • Sacramental character directly configures the faithful to Christ, making them sharers in His mission in the Church. This brings about a relation to the Father, of whom Christ is the perfect Image. Furthermore, it gives one a relation also to the Holy Spirit as the Love proceeding from the Father and the Son.

36 The Trinitarian Dimension of Sacramental Character: Confirmation • The active participation in the threefold mission of Christ, given by Confirmation, involves a new relation to the Father, who is the source and goal of all Revelation, kingship, and priesthood. This participation requires a special relation to the Holy Spirit, for the task of active and public sharing in the mission of the Son cannot be done by human prudence, but requires increasing docility to the movements of the Holy Spirit. This relation to the Holy Spirit is clear in the current sacramental form of Confirmation: “Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit.”

37 The Trinitarian Dimension of Sacramental Character: Holy Orders • The priest is uniquely configured to the Son so as to act sacramentally in His person. This engenders a new relation with the Person of the Father, for Holy Orders gives the mission to administer the sacraments and thus to give supernatural life as a parent in the order of grace, for which reason the priest is fittingly addressed as “father.” This bears a natural analogy to what is proper to the Father: to beget the Son and be the font of the Trinitarian life. • Holy Orders also bears a new relation to the Holy Spirit, the giver of life. Holy Orders gives the spiritual power to communicate the Holy Spirit through the administration of the sacraments. And to accomplish his sublime mission, the priest, and still more the bishop, must be supremely docile to the inspirations of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is thus fittingly invoked in the essential form of ordination in its three grades.

38 A Solemn and Consoling Doctrine

• The baptized and confirmed have been sealed with the imprint of Christ the King, image of the Father. That image is a mark of Christ’s headship over the baptized person, who is not his own. It is also a call to a glorious mission to bring one’s life and activity into conformity with the Image impressed by way of headship. By that conformity we will be judged. The very fact that the seal cannot be removed heightens its solemn aspect of ownership by Christ.

39 A Solemn and Consoling Doctrine

• This seal, however, differs from all other seals by being dynamic. Other seals imprint a completed image into a receptive material. We should not imagine sacramental character in the same way. Although it is an indelible mark, it does not imprint a fixed and completed image in us as other seals do, but is a spiritual power that is the abiding instrument for granting the graces of the Holy Spirit so that the image of the King can be progressively realized in our lives day by day through our cooperation with those graces. It is like a blueprint of what we are called to be in Christ—a seal of identity and mission—endowed with a power to progressively impart the graces to realize the image over time according to the degree of our cooperation and desire.

40 A Solemn and Consoling Doctrine

• As will be made clearer in talk 10 on sacramental grace, this means that sacramental character can always be “called upon” by the faithful in every need and circumstance of the Christian life. Sacramental character is a kind of image impressed upon us of the fidelity of the Triune God Himself. It testifies to Christ’s proximity to us, for He has been stamped on our soul and has given us His Spirit, and thus it testifies to the readiness of His graces so that we can become ever more like to the image received.

41 A Solemn and Consoling Doctrine Catechism of the , §1121 “This configuration to Christ and to the Church, brought about by the Spirit, is indelible; it remains for ever in the Christian as a positive disposition for grace, a promise and guarantee of divine protection, and as a vocation to divine worship and to the service of the Church.”

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