Signed Eucharistic Consecration in the System of St Thomas Aquinas

8/14/2019 Signed Eucharistic Consecration in the System of St Thomas Aquinas

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Matthew G Hysell

FTH 607: Bonaventure & Aquinas

Prof Louis Rouleau, Ph.D. (Cand.)

20 April 2008

St Thomas Aquinas Eucharistic Theology

and the Question of Deaf Candidates to Holy Orders

Can a Deaf man, i.e., someone who does not speak but uses sign language, be validly ordained to

thesacerdotium and preside at Mass? In other words, should hearing loss constitute a diriment

impediment to the reception of Holy Orders because thesacerdos would not be able to vocalize

sacramental formulae, especially the Eucharistic words of consecration?

Sacraments in theSumma theologiae

In working out the exitus-reditus schema in the Summa theologiae, St Thomas begins with God and

the preambles of faith as well as articles of faith in theprima pars, discussing the treatises On

Creation (qq. 44-64), On the Work of the Six Days (qq. 65-74), On Man (qq. 75-102), and

finally On Divine Government (qq. 103-119). Thesecunda pars opens, tellingly, with the

question of Mans Last End (q. 1), a pivotal point in the Summa theologiae, which turns the

attention on Gods crowning work, the human race, in its journey back to God. Thesecuna pars is

subdivided into two parts, the first part of thesecunda pars focusing on the natural virtues in

humanitys return to God, and the second part on the act of faith that provides the supernatural

remedy for the human persons ascent back to God. The final part of the Summa theologiae is the

tertia pars, which attends to the person of Christ Himself, the absolute point of return to the Father.

St Thomas intends to inform his readers that in the first part, God exists and creates the human race

to share in beatitude; in the second part are the natural and supernatural virtues that aid the human

person in this Godward pilgrimage, and finally in the third part Christ, the return to the Father and

the means of such a return.


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The terita pars begins, appropriately, with the Incarnation (qq. 1-19). Significantly, unlike

theprima andsecunda pars, the tertia pars is not divided into treatises, offering instead a

continuous seam from the Incarnation to the mysteries of Christs life (qq. 20-45), the Paschal

Mystery (qq. 46-59), and in a way that may sound strange to contemporary theological method, the

sacraments immediately follow (qq. 46ff). In this way, St Thomas does not intend to grasp the

sacraments under a separate treatise but within the larger context of the Mystery of Christ, or more

accurately, the Mystery of the Incarnate Word. The shift from the Paschal Mystery to the

sacraments is not haphazard (qq. 59, 60). He says explicitly, After considering those things that

concern the mystery of the incarnate Word, we must consider the sacraments of the Church which

derive their efficacy from the Word incarnate Himself.1

Thus the Angelic Doctor provides the

reason for his peculiar method which is at variance with the mainstream Scholastics.

St Thomas begins his discussion in IIIa, q. 60 with the question What is a Sacrament? He

begins by defining sacrament as a kind of sign and quotes the authoritative sacramental

theologian, St Augustine, The visible sacrifice is the sacrament, i.e., the sacred sign, of the

invisible sacrifice (City of God, ch. 10, cited in art. 1,sed contra). In art. 2 he narrows his

definition of a sacrament as something that effects holiness in the human person. He reiterates this

in art. 3, a sacrament properly speaking is that which is ordained to signify our sanctification

(respondeo) but applies a more liberal boundary to whatis signifiedthree things: the very

cause of our sanctification, which is Christs passion; the form of our sanctification, which is grace

and the virtues; and the ultimate end of our sanctification, which is eternal life. And all these are

signified by the sacrament. Each of the sacraments, therefore, is a sign that is both a reminder

1 St Thomas follows a similar method in his Summa contra Gentiles: the materials covered in Book IV are

comparable to that of the tertia pars of the Summa theologiae; after reviewing the Mystery of the Incarnation in

chapters 27-55, he moves seamlessly into the necessity of the sacraments in chapter 56. He says at the beginning,

Since, however (as has already been said), the death of Christ is, so to say, the universal cause of human salvation, and

since a universal cause must be applied singly to each of its effects, it was necessary to show men some remedies

through which the benefit of Christs death could somehow be conjoined to them. It is of this sort, of course, that the

sacraments of the Church are said to be.


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of the past, i.e., the passion of Christ, and an indication of that which is effected in us by Christs

passion, i.e., grace; and a prognostic, that is, a foretelling of future glory. In other words, all

sacraments are memorials of the Paschal Mystery, provide grace, and anticipate beatitude; St

Thomas expects it to be clear that as asign, sacraments signify three things.

Article 4 heats up the discussion by focusing on the sensible qualities of a sign. Are signs

always things? He is concerned about the Johannine Jesus saying to the Samaritan Woman at the

well of Jacob, God is spirit; those who worship God worship him in spirit and truth (Jn 4:24).

The sacramental elements are presupposed by Augustines words in thesed contra, The word is

added to the element and this becomes a sacrament. St Thomas argues that the elements proper to

each sacraments (he does not yet enumerate them) correspond to their respective signification:

Now it is part of mans nature to acquire knowledge of the intelligible from the sensible

(respondeo). Accordingly, the spirit and truth which is the prerequisite for divine worship are

relayed by human intelligence. St Thomas alludes to pseudo-Dionysius Celestial Hierarchy as an

authority supporting the correspondence and communication of spiritual realities by sensible things.

It is worth quoting at length:

All this accounts for the fact that the sacred institution and source of perfection established our most pious

hierarchy. He modeled it on the hierarchies of heaven, and clothed these immaterial hierarchies in numerous

material figures and forms so that, in a way appropriate to our nature, we might be uplifted form these most

venerable images to interpretations and assimilations which are simple and inexpressible. For it is quite

impossible that we humans should, in any immaterial way, rise up to imitate and contemplate the heavenly

hierarchies without the aid of those material means capable of guiding us as our nature requires.2

Citing the Eucharist as an instance of this, pseudo-Dionysius wrote: The reception of the most

divine Eucharist is asymbolof our participation in Jesus. And so it goes for all gifts transcendently

received by the beings of heaven, gifts which are granted to us in a symbolic mode.

Augustines statement on the conjoining ofwordto element anticipates art. 6, which asks

Whether Words are Required for the Signification of the Sacraments. St Thomas choice of

2 PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE,Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, trans. Colm Luibheid (New

York, NY: Paulist Press, 1987), 146.


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words is revealing, because it establishes not simply a connexion between words and sacraments,

but rather words and thesignification of sacraments. In his respondeo, he provides three reasons

for the necessity of words. One, it provides a mirror to the Mystery of the Incarnate Word, who

became flesh to communicate the Gospel: For in the first place they can be considered in regard to

the cause of sanctification, which is the Word incarnate: to Whom the sacraments have a certain

conformity, in that the word is joined to the sensible sign,just as the mystery of the Incarnation the

Word of God is united to sensible flesh.3

Two, there is a kind of correspondence between the

anthropological body-soul duality and the revelatory element-word duality. It is revelatory because

it reveals faith in the expression of words joined to the sacramental element that touches the

body through the sensible element, and the soul through faith in the words.4

Note how St Thomas

establishes a connexion between wordandfaith. Three, St Thomas turns to thesignification of the

sacraments which is accomplished: although a sacramental element communicates a distinct sign in

its own right, the use of words insure the perfection of sacramental signification. Using

baptism as an example, he points out that the humidity and coolness of water are a sign of its

refreshing effects, but the form I baptize you, Aquinas says that it is clear that we use water

in baptism in order tosignify a spiritual cleansing.

Sacramental Forms as Determinate Words

Must specific and determinate words be employed as sacramental forms? With this question,

Aquinas opens art. 7 and gives his reply with the Eucharist as an instance. Our Lord used

determinate words in consecrating the sacrament of the Eucharist, when He said: This is My Body.

Likewise He commanded His disciples to baptize under a form of determinate words, saying: Go ye

and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy

Spirit (sed contra).

3 Emphasis added.4 Emphasis added.


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Notice that Aquinas employs the common liturgical language of form with regards to all

the sacraments, but consecration as the peculiar form of the Eucharist. In other words, the form

for the Eucharist are the words of consecration, but the forms of the other six sacraments are never

called consecration. The baptismal formula is not considered consecratory of the water; the

formula of absolution or the formula of confirmation are not considered consecratory either. Does

Aquinas intend to make an exception for the Eucharistic formula as consecratory in such a way

that it is at variance with the remaining six sacraments?

The whole of q. 78 addresses the form of the sacrament of the Eucharist. He asks whether

This is My body and This is the chalice of My blood is the form of the sacrament. He answers

in the affirmative, quoting St Ambrose, The consecration is accomplished by the words and

expressions of the Lord Jesus it is Christs words that perfect this sacrament (sed contra).

Anticipating our recent question, Aquinas replies that the Eucharist, as a sacrament, differs from the

others in two ways:

First of all, in this, that this sacrament is accomplished by the consecration of the matter, while the restare perfected by the use of consecrated matter. Secondly, because in the other sacraments the

consecration of matter consists only in a blessing, from which the matter consecrated derivesinstrumentally a spiritual power, which through the priest who is an animated instrument, can pass on toinanimate instruments. But in this sacrament the consecration of the matter consists in the miraculous

change of the substance (respondeo)

Thus Aquinas equates consecration with what is now called transubstantiation. He says even

more clearly, but the form of this sacrament implies merely the consecration of the matter,

which consists in transubstantiation, as when it is said, This is My body or, This is the chalice of My

blood (ibid). What Aquinas means is that whereas in the other sacraments, the elements are

consecratedpriorto the celebration of the sacramental formulae. In baptism, the water is

consecrated before the formula I baptize you is used; during the Mass of Chrism, the sacred

chrism is consecrated by the bishop before it is used either in confirmation or ordination. In the

Eucharist alone, on the contrary, the consecration and the form are coterminous.


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At this point, we run into the singular difficulty of Aquinas representation of the

sacramental theology of the Roman Patriarchate versus the sacramental theology of the Eastern

Churches. It is significant that he makes frequent reference to St John of Damascus as an

authoritative Father throughout his Summa theologiae, but here he seems to part company with him

on the question of when the moment of consecration or transubstantiation takes place. In his

Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, which Aquinas quotes frequently, the Last of the Fathers wrote

concerning the Eucharistic consecration: the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit becomes

through the invocation the rain to this new tillage. For just as God made all that He made by the

energy of the Holy Spirit, so also now the energy of the Spirit performs those things that are

supernatural and which it is not possible to comprehend unless by faith alone (bk. 4, ch. 13).5

In

fact, the Damascene sees the Institution Narrative as a whole to be the commandof Christ to His

Church that the Eucharist is to be celebrated; although it is repeated in the Slav-Byzantine liturgies,

the confection of this sacrament is understood to be strictly Pneumatological, i.e., by way of the

epiklesis, not Christological by way of the priest, in persona Christi, reciting His words.

There is, however, a point of contact between St Thomas Aquinas and St John Damasacene

as regards that act of faith in the consecration. St John speaks of the comprehension by faith

alone what the Holy Spirit has done. In asking whether the audible or phonetic quality is

requisite for an effective recitation of the words of consecration, St Thomas replies (IIIa, q. 60,

art. 7, ad1): As Augustine says, the word operates in the sacraments not because it is spoken, i.e.,

not by the outward sound of the voice, but because it is believedin accordance with the sense of the

words which is held by faith. And this sense is indeed the same for all, though the same words as to

their sound be not used by all. Consequently no matter in what language this sense is expressed, the

5 P.SCHAFF and H.WACE,A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, series 2,

vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976), 82-83.


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sacrament is complete. Thus the words of consecration are indicative of the faith that this bread-

lookalike and this wine-lookalike is indeed the Sacred Body and Precious Blood.

How do the words of consecration as an act of faith square with transubstantiative effect

of the same words? In quoting Augustine, Aquinas is making a connection between the

sacramental form and the Incarnate Word (cf. IIIa, q. 60, art. 6, respondeo). Therefore the

sacramental formulae are revelatory and exegeticalin that they revealand exegete the sacramental

action. It is for this reason that the auditory/phonetic quality is not the cause of the change, but

rather the meaningof the words of consecration and the assent to it by faith. In fact, Aquinas goes

so far as to say that apart from the words of consecration, nothing else is necessary for the

Eucharist and that the Eucharistic Prayer has a more devotional than sacramental (or liturgical)

value.6

The Words of Consecration in Sign Language

In giving his answer, St Thomas takes his cue from St Augustines Tractates on the Gospel of John,

80. The context of Augustines commentary comes from the middle section of the Johannine Jesus

Farewell Discourse, specifically Jn 15:13, I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Vine-grower.

He removes every branch in Me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make

it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken in you. It is the

force ofv. 3 that Augustine develops an excusion on sacramental theology, You have already been

cleansed by the word I have spoken to you. Augustine asks why Jesus refers to the power of His

words rather than to baptism:

Take away the word, and the water is neither more nor less than the water. The word is added to the element, and

there results the Sacrament, as if itself also a kind of visible word. For He had said also with the same effect, when

washing the disciples feet, He that is washed needs not, save wash his feet, but is clean every whit. And whence

has water so great an efficacy, as in touching the body to cleanse the soul, save by the operation of the word; and

that not because it is uttered, but because it is believed? For even in the word itself the passing sound is one thing,

the abiding efficacy another. The word of faith possesses such virtue in the Church of God, that through the

6 E.MAZZA, The Celebration of the Eucharist: The Origin of the Rite and the Development of its Interpretation,

trans. M. J. OConnell (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1999), 210.


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medium who in faith presents, and blesses, and sprinkles it, He cleanses even the tiny mouth unto salvation. All

this is done by means of the word, whereof the Lord says, Now you are clean through the word which I have

spoken to you.

Clearly, Augustine is referring to the sacrament of baptism; the relationship between word and the

element with respect to the Eucharist is raised by St Thomas. In any case, the efficacy of the word

works what is signified by the sacramental action. Augustine, it is true, developed the theory that it

is Christwho is the Celebrant of the sacraments in the face of the Donatist heresy which taught that

sacramental efficacy was contingent upon the faith of the minister. Not so, according to Augustine,

because the sacraments effect ex opere operato by Christ Himself whose Paschal Mystery

constitutes the fountain-head of every sacramental grace.

But whose faith does Augustine refer to when he says, through the medium who in

faith presents, blesses and sprinkles the waters of baptism? Does Augustine here mean to say

that the efficacy of the ministers faith is necessary? It might be possible to interpret this condition

in the light of the Churchs definitive teaching that the intention of the minister is required for the

valid celebration of any sacrament (cf. Council of Trent).7

If this interpretation is correct, then what

St Thomas means to say is this: the efficacy of the words of consecration resides in the presiders

intention to make present the Sacred Body and Precious Blood. Thus thesacerdos who presides at

Mass must share in the Churchs intention to make present the Body and Blood of the Lord and

in whatever language, even nonvocal and inaudible onesto communicate the sacramental formula

in which the act of faith is invested. Therefore sign language, precisely because it is a language and

imports the meaning of the words of consecration, easily fulfills the requirements for a valid

Eucharist.

7 If anyone says that, when ministers effect or confer the sacraments, they do not need the intention od at least

doing what the church does: let him be anathema. Council of Trent, Session 7, First Decree; Canons on the

sacraments in general, no. 11 (3 March 1547). In N. Tanner,Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, vol. 2 (Washington,

D.C., Georgetown University Press, 1990), 685.


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One might wonder whether St Thomas is somewhat minimalist in his Eucharistic theology,

as he appears to concentrate its value wholly upon the Real Presence.

Careful consideration of St Thomas sacramental theology within the broader schema of the

tertia pars should remind us that the Incarnation took place precisely for the sake of the Passion,

and more precisely, his office as the Great High Priest (IIIa, q. 22, art.2, resp.; q. 46, art. 12, resp.).

That being the case, the Real Presence of the Sacred Body and Precious Blood thus has a

memorialquality to it (which is also evidenced by his Eucharistic hymns, esp. O dulcis Memoria).8

Talk of the entire Eucharistic Prayer as being consecratory has been in vogue in the years

following the Second Vatican Council. The Eastern Church, again, insists that the epiklesis itself is

invested with the power to effect the change in the Holy Gifts. How can the two positions be

reconciled? Even the Syriac Eucharistic anaphoras (e.g. the Liturgy of Addai and Mari) have been

taught by the magisterium to effect a valid Eucharist. Are we to say that St Thomas is wrong to

insist that the words of consecration effects the change?

My own suggestion would be that it is in view of the intention of the minister, enshrined in

the act of faith in the Institution Narrative and precisely the words of consecration, that the

sacramental form has its power. In other words, its power is not concentrated in the momentthey

are uttered (or signed); rather, it is in anticipation of indicatingthat the Holy Gifts will become the

Sacred Body and Precious Blood that they are efficacious. In this case, therefore, the form is

indicative of the Real Presence of Christ effected by the epiklesis, but validly so only because the

ministerintends the words this is my Body and this is My Blood to be true. In the anaphora of

Addai and Mari, for example, regardless of the lack of the words of consecration, it is nevertheless

a valid Eucharist because the minister still must maintain the intention of the Church, and the

8 Cf. S.Th. IIIa, q. 76, art. 2, ad1 and q. 79, art. 1; also S.c.G., IV, ch. 61, 4.


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intentions are abundantly manifested in the Qurbono or the preparatory prayers celebrated by Syriac

priests prior to the Eucharistic Liturgy.

Conclusion

There is no reason, then, to think that the power of the words of consecration resides in its

auditory or phonetic quality. The Angelic Doctor, following Augustine, insists that it is the faith

represented by this is My body; this is My blood that effects the change in the Holy Gifts. But

the act of faith, if my interpretation is correct, is taken here to meanusing the language of the

Council of Trentthe intention of the presider, in persona Christi, to celebrate Mass and to make

present the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ9

It is thus in view of indicating that this,

i.e., the elements, is truly and substantially My body and My blood. Therefore a presbyter or

bishop who presides at the Eucharist in American Sign Language validly confects the sacrament

simply because of his act of faith in the words of consecration, i.e., his proper intention to do what

is meantby the Words of Institution.

9 Ego volo celebrare Misam, et conficere Corpus et Sanguinem Domini nostril Iesu Christi See CATHOLIC

CHURCH, Missale Romanum, [sic] editio typical(Vatican City State, Liberia Edtrice Vaticana, 1975), 934.

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Signed Eucharistic Consecration in the System of St Thomas Aquinas