Lesson 2 –
What Is a Sacrament?

A sacrament is a Christian physical act that brings about a spiritual change, namely, greater spiritual holiness. Indeed, the increased spiritual sanctity is indicated and brought about by the physical act.

There are seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, the anointing of the sick, holy orders, and marriage.

Course Reading

Summa Theologiae III q. 60, aa. 1-2 | St. Thomas Aquinas

Summa contra gentiles bk. IV c. 56 | St. Thomas Aquinas

General Principles of Sacramental Theology, pp. 62-63 | Roger Nutt

Excerpt from General Principles of Sacramental Theology by Roger Nutt:

Sacraments do not merely dispose their recipients to grace, they actually make them holy. “Things that signify disposition to holiness,” Thomas explains, “are not called sacraments . . . only those things are called sacraments which signify the perfection of holiness in man” [ST III, q. 60, a. 2, ad 3]. This is so, Thomas explains, because a “disposition is not an end, whereas a perfection is” [ibid.]. A disposition is ordered to something else, but the sacraments effect the end of perfection or holiness in men or women.

Course Listening

The Sacraments in General: Definition and Necessity | Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.

The Sacraments in the Christian Life | Fr. Dominic Langevin, O.P.