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Course 21 · Lesson 5.5

Sacraments and sacramentals: the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant vocabulary

10 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 21 outline

Module 1: The Theology of Worship

  1. What liturgy is: the word, the idea and the debate
  2. Worship in the Old and New Testaments
  3. Praying and believing: how worship shapes doctrine and doctrine shapes worship
  4. Word, sacrament and sign across the traditions

Module 2: How Christian Liturgy Developed

  1. The earliest descriptions: the Didache, Justin Martyr and the early church orders
  2. The liturgical families of East and West
  3. The Reformation and the revision of worship
  4. Liturgical renewal in the twentieth century

Module 3: The Christian Year: Calendars, Feasts and Fasts

  1. Sunday, the week and the hours of the day
  2. Easter, Holy Week and the dispute over the date
  3. Advent, Christmas and Epiphany
  4. Lent, the Orthodox fasting seasons and Protestant approaches to fasting
  5. Saints days and the second cycle of the calendar

Module 4: Sacred Space and Sacred Images

  1. From house church to basilica: the development of church buildings
  2. The meaning of church buildings: altar, table, orientation and the Orthodox and Gothic examples
  3. Icons and the Incarnation: John of Damascus and the Second Council of Nicaea
  4. Images and the Reformation: Lutheran, Reformed and Anglican approaches

Module 5: Material Signs: Incense, Water, Oil and Blessings

  1. Incense: Scripture, temple worship and its use in the churches
  2. Water: baptism, the renewal of baptismal vows and holy water
  3. Oil: anointing of the sick, chrismation, confirmation and ordination
  4. Blessings: what the church means when it blesses a person, a house or an object
  5. Sacraments and sacramentals: the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant vocabulary

Module 6: Popular Piety and Devotional Practice

  1. What popular piety is, and why scholars take it seriously
  2. Pilgrimage, relics, medals and pious objects
  3. The rosary, the Stations of the Cross, litanies and akathists
  4. How the churches have regulated and corrected popular devotion

Module 7: Telling Tradition from Superstition

  1. What the theologians mean by superstition, and why the line is hard to draw
  2. A method: source, date, doctrine, authority and consequence
  3. Case studies: apocryphal legends, magical formulas and invented history
  4. Honesty and respect in judging other people’s devotion

All courses

Program / Course 21: Liturgical Theology / Lesson 5.5

What you will learn

  • Define sacrament and sacramental as the Catholic Church uses them and say what each adds to the other.
  • Explain why Orthodox Christians usually speak of mysteries and avoid a sharp line.
  • State the Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, Methodist and Baptist vocabulary of sacraments, ordinances and means of grace.
  • Apply the vocabulary to a practice such as holy water, an ash cross or a medal and say what can be done alone.

The big idea

The churches use different words for the signs through which they say God works. Catholics distinguish seven sacraments, which Christ instituted, from sacramentals, which the church instituted. The Orthodox speak of mysteries and do not draw a sharp line. Lutherans, Anglicans and Reformed keep two sacraments, and Baptists call them ordinances. Methodists speak of means of grace. The words are not interchangeable, and a student who knows them can read a church’s teaching without confusing one tradition’s meaning with another’s.

Key terms

Sacrament
A sacred sign instituted by Christ through which, in Catholic and Orthodox teaching, he gives grace, and in Protestant teaching he seals the promise of the gospel to the believer.
Sacramental
In Catholic teaching, a sacred sign, such as a blessing or an object, instituted by the church, which prepares a person to receive grace and sanctifies daily life.
Ex opere operato
Latin for from the work performed. In Catholic teaching, the sacraments act by Christ’s power when rightly celebrated, not by the holiness of the minister.
Mystery
The Orthodox term for sacraments and other holy acts of the church, stressing the hidden action of God.
Ordinance
A Baptist and free-church term for baptism and the Lord’s Supper, as acts commanded by Christ.
Means of grace
A phrase, used by Lutherans, Reformed and especially Methodists, for the ways God gives grace, such as the word, the sacraments and prayer.
Magisterium
The teaching authority of the Catholic Church, exercised by the pope and bishops.

Background

The Catholic Church defined at the Council of Trent that there are seven sacraments instituted by Christ: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, holy orders and matrimony. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraphs 1113 to 1130) explains that the sacraments are efficacious signs of grace. Sacramentals are treated separately (paragraphs 1667 to 1679). They include blessings, holy water, blessed ashes, palms, candles, medals, rosaries and many other things and actions.

Vatican II, in its constitution on the liturgy (paragraphs 60 and 61), said that sacramentals are sacred signs by which spiritual effects are signified and obtained through the prayer of the church. The council added that they prepare people to receive the main effect of the sacraments and sanctify various occasions in life.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: The Catholic distinction

A sacrament is instituted by Christ and acts, in Catholic teaching, by his power whenever it is validly celebrated and received without obstacle. A sacramental is instituted by the church and acts through the prayer of the church and the devotion of the person, not by the same guarantee. A bishop may add or change a sacramental, but no one can add a sacrament. Examples of sacramentals include the sign of the cross, a blessing of a house, holy water, a funeral rite and the rosary. The church says that sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way the sacraments do.

Step 2: The Orthodox vocabulary

Orthodox theology uses the word mysteria, or sacraments, for all the acts by which God gives himself in the church. Seven are listed in modern manuals, partly through contact with Latin scholasticism, and some Orthodox theologians have said that the number is a teaching aid and not a dogma. The Orthodox also speak of the great blessing of waters, monastic tonsure and the funeral service in a way that does not sharply separate them from the sacraments. Orthodox writers such as Alexander Schmemann stress that the whole life of the church is sacramental. This does not mean everything is a sacrament, but that the world is seen as the place of God’s gifts.

Step 3: The Protestant vocabulary

Lutheran churches affirm two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, with absolution regarded in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession as possibly a third if the term is used loosely. The Church of England names two sacraments of the gospel (Article 25) and describes five others as not of the same kind, because they lack a visible sign ordained by God. Reformed churches say two, as signs and seals of the covenant. Baptist and many free churches prefer the word ordinance, which stresses obedience to Christ’s command. Wesley and the Methodists spoke of the means of grace, which include prayer, Scripture, fasting, the Lord’s Supper and Christian conversation. Quakers and the Salvation Army practice no outward sacraments.

Step 4: Applying the vocabulary

Take holy water. For a Catholic it is a sacramental that recalls baptism, with the prayer of the church. For an Orthodox it is a blessing within the church’s life. A Lutheran may not use it, but would not call it evil. A Reformed Christian would likely reject it as lacking biblical warrant. Take the ash cross of Ash Wednesday. For Catholics, Anglicans and many Lutherans it is a sign of repentance, with the church’s prayer, and not a sacrament. In each case the vocabulary shows the disagreement more clearly than a general statement about ritual.

Step 5: What a person can do alone

A person alone can use many sacramentals in a way the church allows, such as making the sign of the cross, praying with a rosary or having a blessed object at home, and can remember the sacraments and pray about them. A person cannot administer or provide any of the sacraments, such as the Eucharist or ordination, to themselves. In Catholic and Orthodox teaching the sacraments are given by Christ through the church, and in Protestant teaching baptism and the Supper are the acts of a gathered church. The churches teach that a sacramental should not be treated as a substitute for the sacraments, and that grace is not bound to any object.

  1. Who instituted this sign: Christ or the church?
  2. Does the tradition teach that it gives grace, or that it signifies or seals it?
  3. How many sacraments does the tradition count, and how does it decide?
  4. Is the practice a sacrament, a sacramental, an ordinance or a custom?
  5. What does the tradition warn against?
  6. Which parts can be done alone and which need a church?

Examples

An ash cross

A woman receives ashes on Ash Wednesday with the words that she is dust and will return to dust. Her church teaches that this is a sacramental that signifies repentance, and does not forgive sins by itself. She wears it through the day as a reminder.

A rosary

A Catholic prays the rosary with a string of beads blessed by a priest. The church says that the beads are an aid to prayer. The prayer depends on the person’s attention and faith, and the beads add no power.

An ordinance

A Baptist church observes the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of each month. The pastor reads from 1 Corinthians 11, and deacons pass the bread and cup. The church calls it an ordinance and teaches that Christ is spiritually present among his people.

Different perspectives

Catholic

Seven sacraments, instituted by Christ, give grace. Sacramentals are signs instituted by the church that dispose people to receive grace and sanctify life. The magisterium rules on both.

Orthodox

The church’s mysteries are the way God gives himself, with the Eucharist at the center. Orthodox writers avoid a definition by categories and speak instead of the whole life of the church.

Lutheran and Anglican

Two sacraments are central. Other rites may be used for the good of the church, and neither tradition makes them binding. Anglicans especially vary between high and low emphases.

Reformed

Two sacraments, as signs and seals of the covenant, administered with the word. Sacramentals are rejected as lacking Scriptural warrant and as likely to cause superstition.

Baptist, Methodist and others

Ordinances or means of grace are practiced as commanded by Christ and as means by which God works in faith. The vocabulary varies, and so does the stress on the work of God compared with human obedience.

Why it matters

This vocabulary is the key to the whole module. It lets a student say what a church means by a rite without importing another church’s definitions. It also provides tools for the last module of the course, where practices are tested: asking whether a rite is claimed to be a sacrament, a sacramental or a custom helps decide what evidence is needed.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Sacramentals are minor sacraments.

Correction: In Catholic teaching they are a different kind of thing, instituted by the church, and they do not act in the same way as the sacraments.

Misunderstanding: Orthodox Christians have exactly seven sacraments by definition.

Correction: Seven are listed in many manuals, but Orthodox theologians have long said that the number is not a dogma and that other rites share in the sacramental life.

Misunderstanding: Protestants all have two sacraments.

Correction: Lutherans, Anglicans and Reformed say two. Baptists use ordinances. Quakers and the Salvation Army practice none. The meanings of the two also vary.

Misunderstanding: A sacramental works automatically.

Correction: The Catholic Church teaches that sacramentals depend on the prayer of the church and the faith of the person, and condemns superstition.

Knowledge check

What is the Catholic distinction between a sacrament and a sacramental?

A sacrament is instituted by Christ and gives grace by his power when rightly celebrated and received. A sacramental is instituted by the church, works through the church’s prayer and the person’s devotion, and prepares for grace.

Why do the Orthodox usually avoid a sharp line?

They speak of mysteries and of the whole church life as sacramental. The number seven appears in modern manuals but is not seen by many as a dogma. They do not need to separate sacraments from sacramentals.

How many sacraments do Lutherans, Anglicans and Reformed count, and what do Baptists say?

Lutherans, Anglicans and Reformed count two, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptists and many free churches call them ordinances. Anglican Article 25 says five other rites are not sacraments of the gospel.

What can a person do alone and what can they not?

A person can use sacramentals as the church allows, pray and remember the sacraments. A person cannot give themselves the sacraments such as the Eucharist or ordination, which are acts of Christ in the church.

Think it through

  1. Why might a church wish to limit the number of sacraments?
  2. Is the Orthodox refusal to draw a line a strength or a weakness?
  3. What question would you ask to decide whether a practice is a sacramental?
  4. How can a person of one tradition describe another tradition’s sacraments fairly?

Independent assignment

A glossary entry set

In your own notebook, write a one-page glossary for the following terms: sacrament, sacramental, mystery, ordinance, means of grace and ex opere operato. For each, give a definition in its own tradition’s terms, one source and one common misuse of the word. Do not send this to anyone.

Further study