Free Republic

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas EXTREME UNCTION The fifth Sacrament is Extreme Unction. Its matter is olive oil blessed by the bishop. This Sacrament should only be received by those who are in danger of death through sickness. They are to be anointed in the places of the five senses: that is, on the eyes, because it is the organ of the sense of sight; on the ears, because of hearing; on the nostrils, because of smell; on the lips, because of taste or speech; and on the hands because of touch, and on the feet because of...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas PENANCE The fourth Sacrament is Penance. The matter,[27] as it were, of this Sacrament is the acts of the penitent, which are called the three parts of Penance. The first part is a heart-felt contrition, by which one is sorry for the sins one has committed, and determines not to sin again. The second part is confession, which consists in this that the sinner confesses all the sins of which he is mindful to the priest; and all of them at one time to one priest, not dividing them to a number of...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE HOLY EUCHARIST The third Sacrament is the Holy Eucharist. Its matter is wheaten bread and wine from the grape mixed with a little water so that the water becomes part of the wine. The water signifies the faithful who are incorporated into Christ. Other than wheaten bread and wine from the grape cannot be the matter for this Sacrament. The form of this Sacrament is the very words of Christ, "This is My Body," and "This is the chalice of My Blood of the new and eternal testament; the mystery of faith;...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas CONFIRMATION The second Sacrament is Confirmation. The matter of this Sacrament is chrism made from oil, which signifies the bright lustre of conscience, and from balsam, which signifies the odor of a good name; both of which are blessed by the bishop. The form of this Sacrament is: "I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and I confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."[18] The minister of this Sacrament is solely the bishop.[19] It is...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas BAPTISM Having considered the Sacraments in general, it is now necessary to say something about each one in particular. First, we consider Baptism, of which it must be known that the matter of this Sacrament is natural water, and it makes no difference whether it is cold or warm. In artificial waters, however, such as rose water, one cannot baptize. The form of Baptism is: "I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." The minister of Baptism ordinarily is the priest, whose office...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas EXPLANATION OF THE SACRAMENTS THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH We shall now consider the Sacraments of the Church. We shall treat them under one heading, since they all pertain to the effect of grace. First of all, that must be known which St. Augustine wrote in the tenth book of "The City of God": "a Sacrament is a sacred thing" or "the sign of a sacred thing."[1] Even in the Old Law there were certain sacraments, that is, signs of a sacred thing--for example, the paschal lamb and other legal sacred signs or...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE TWELFTH ARTICLE: "Life everlasting. Amen." The end of all our desires, eternal life, is fittingly placed last among those things to be believed; and the Creed says: "life everlasting. Amen." They wrote this to stand against those who believe that the soul perishes with the body. If this were indeed true, then the condition of man would be just the same as that of the beasts. This agrees with what the Psalmist says: "Man when he was in honor did not understand; he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made like...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE ELEVENTH ARTICLE: "The Resurrection of the Body." Not only does the Holy Spirit sanctify the Church as regards the souls of its members, but also our bodies shall rise again by His power: "We believe in Him that raised up Jesus Christ, Our Lord, from the dead."[1] And: "By a man came death: and by a Man the resurrection of the dead."[2] In this there occur four considerations: (1) the benefits which proceed from our faith in the resurrection; (2) the qualities of those who shall rise, taken all in general; (3)...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE TENTH ARTICLE: "The Communion of Saints, the Forgiveness of Sins." As in our natural body the operation of one member works for the good of the entire body, so also is it with a spiritual body, such as is the Church. Because all the faithful are one body, the good of one member is communicated to another: "And every one members, one of another."[1] So, among the points of faith which the Apostles have handed down is that there is a common sharing of good in the Church. This is expressed in...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE NINTH ARTICLE: "I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church." We see that in a man there are one soul and one body; and of his body there are many members. So also the Catholic Church is one body and has different members. The soul which animates this body is the Holy Spirit.[1] Hence, after confessing our faith in the Holy Ghost, we are bid to believe in the Holy Catholic Church. Thus, in the Symbol it is said, "the Holy Catholic Church." It must be known that "church" is the same as...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE EIGHTH ARTICLE: "I Believe in the Holy Ghost." As we have said, the Word of God is the Son of God just as in a way the word of man is the concept of his intellect.[1] But sometimes man has a word which is dead. This is when, for instance, he conceives what he ought to do, but he has not the will to do it; or when one believes but does not practise; then his faith is said to be dead, as St. James points out.[2] The word of God, however,...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE SEVENTH ARTICLE: "From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead." It is of the office of the King and Lord to pronounce judgment: "The king that sitteth on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with His look."[1] Since Christ, therefore, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God as Lord of all, it is clear that His is the office of Judge. For this reason we say in the rule of Catholic faith that "He shall come to judge the living and the...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE SIXTH ARTICLE: "He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty." Besides the resurrection of Christ, we must also believe in His ascension; for He ascended into heaven on the fortieth day. Hence, the Creed says: "He ascended into heaven." Concerning this we ought to observe three things, viz., that it was sublime, reasonable, and beneficial. THE SUBLIMITY OF THE ASCENSION It was certainly sublime that Christ ascended into heaven. This is expounded in three ways. Firstly, He ascended above the physical heaven: "He . ....

THE FIFTH ARTICLE (CONTINUED): "The third day He arose again from the dead." We must necessarily know two things: the glory of God and the punishment of hell. For being attracted by His glory and made fearful by punishments, we take warning and withdraw ourselves from sin. But for us to appreciate these facts is very difficult. Thus, it is said of God's glory: "But the things that are in heaven, who shall search out?"[1] For those who are worldly minded this is indeed difficult, because "he that is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE FIFTH ARTICLE: "He Descended into Hell." The death of Christ was the separation of His soul from His body as it is with other men. But the Divinity was so indissolubly conjoined to the Man Christ that although His soul and body were disunited, His Divinity was always most perfectly united to both the soul and body. This we have seen above. Therefore in the Sepulchre His body was together with the Son of God who together with His soul descended into hell.[1] REASONS FOR CHRIST'S DESCENT There are four reasons why...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE FOURTH ARTICLE: "Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried." It is just as necessary for the Christian to believe in the passion and death of the Son of God as it is to believe in His Incarnation. For, as St. Gregory says, "there would have been no advantage in His having been born for us unless we had profited by His Redemption." That Christ died for us is so tremendous a fact that our intellect can scarcely grasp it; for in no way does it fall in the natural...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE THIRD ARTICLE: "Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary." The Christian must not only believe in the Son of God, as we have seen, but also in His Incarnation. St. John, after having written of things subtle and difficult to understand,[1] points out the Incarnation to us when he says: "And the Word was made flesh."[2] Now, in order that we may understand something of this, I give two illustrations at the outset. It is clear that there is nothing more like the Word of God than...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE SECOND ARTICLE: "And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord." It is not only necessary for Christians to believe in one God who is the Creator of heaven and earth and of all things; but also they must believe that God is the Father and that Christ is the true Son of God. This, as St. Peter says, is not mere fable, but is certain and proved by the word of God on the Mount of Transfiguration. "For we have not by following artificial fables made known to you the power...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas THE FIRST ARTICLE: "I Believe in One God." Among all the truths which the faithful must believe, this is the first-that there is one God. We must see that God means the ruler and provider of all things. He, therefore, believes in God who believes that everything in this world is governed and provided for by Him. He who would believe that all things come into being by chance does not believe that there is a God. No one is so foolish as to deny that all nature, which operates with a certain...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas The Apostles' Creed WHAT IS FAITH? The Nature and Effects of Faith.--The first thing that is necessary for every Christian is faith, without which no one is truly called a faithful Christian.[1] Faith brings about four good effects. The first is that through faith the soul is united to God, and by it there is between the soul and God a union akin to marriage. "I will espouse thee in faith."[2] When a man is baptized the first question that is asked him is: "Do you believe in God?"[3] This is because Baptism...