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Dist. 23, Art. 1, Q. 4

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 23

Textus Latinus
p. 594

Quaestio IV. Utrum forma verbi sit de essentia Sacramenti.

Quarto loco quaeritur de forma huius Sacramenti, et quaeritur, utrum forma verbi sit de essentia huius Sacramenti. Et quod sic, videtur:

1. Primo per ritum universalis Ecclesiae, quae ubique locorum unctionem tribuit cum benedictione sacerdotali.

2. Item, probatur per illud Iacobi1: Inducat presbyteros, et orent pro eo, ungentes eum oleo: ergo praemittitur oratio ante unctionem, et videtur, quod ita sit de integritate, ut unctio; et hoc probatur per litteram sequentem: Oratio fidei salvabit infirmum: ergo efficacia Sacramenti principaliter residet penes verbum orationis.

3. Item, hoc ipsum videtur per simile in aliis Sacramentis: quia Sacramenta novae legis sanctificant per verbum, ut dicit Hugo2: ergo pari ratione videtur, quod istud Sacramentum.

4. Item, sicut in aliis necessaria est intentio, et ideo est verbum etiam arctans intentionem3; ita et in hoc necessaria est intentio: ergo pari ratione et verbi exprimentis sive arctantis intentionem prolatio.

Contra:

1. Omnia Sacramenta ex fonte sacrae Scripturae ortum habent, quia nullum Sacramentum est in Ecclesia, quin describatur in Scriptura; sed huius Sacramenti forma nusquam describitur, nec ab Evangelista nec ab Apostolo: ergo etc.

2. Item, omnia Sacramenta, quae habent formam, eandem debent habere per totam Ecclesiam catholicam, quia variatio formae est variatio Sacramenti, et Sacramentum non potest esse nisi uniforme, sicut fides et Ecclesia; sed hoc Sacramentum non habet eandem formam. Nam in Ecclesia Gregoriana4 est haec forma: « Per istam sanctam unctionem et suam piissimam misericordiam indulgeat tibi Dominus, quidquid oculorum vitio deliquisti »; in Ambrosiana est haec: « Ungo te oleo sanctificato in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti, ut more militis uncti praeparatus ad certamen, aereas possis superare potestates », vel similis huic. Ergo non videtur, quod aliqua forma sit substantialis.

3. Item, omnes Sacramentorum formae traditae sunt per orationem indicativam; sed forma huius p. 595Sacramenti tradita est per orationem deprecativam1: ergo non videtur convenienter assignata, aut non est forma, quoniam Sacramenta novae legis certitudinaliter ponunt suum effectum: ergo per orationem indicativam debent exprimi, non per deprecativam.

4. Item, secundum beatum Iacobum2 oratio fidei est illa quae est necessaria: si ergo oratio est ad Deum, et ad Deum oratur melius gemitu cordis quam voce oris; videtur, quod ad istius Sacramenti perfectionem non oporteat aliquid oretenus exprimi.

Quaeritur igitur, si formam habet, et quae sit forma, et per quem modum.

Conclusio

Forma extremae unctionis essentialis est oratio deprecativa.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod aliqui voluerunt dicere, quod istud Sacramentum non habebat3 formam verbi essentialem, sed quae solum erat de bene esse; et ideo non fuit expressa nec in Ecclesia invenitur unica sed diversa. — Sed tamen illud non est securum dicere nec secundum textum Scripturae, cum in istius Sacramenti institutione maximam vim videatur Iacobus in oratione constituere et sibi totam efficaciam attribuere, cum dicit: Oratio fidei salvabit; non dicit: unctio. Oratio autem fidei dicitur non ipsius inungentis, sed ipsius Ecclesiae, in cuius fide administrantur Sacramenta. Sicut ergo in aliis Sacramentis non sufficit corde credere, nisi fiat professio in verbo exteriori4; sic intelligendum est hic, quod non sufficit oratio mentalis sine vocali.

Et ideo forma verbi est de integritate Sacramenti, forma, inquam, verbi, secundum quod est expressiva orationis fidei; et hoc propter talem institutionem istius Sacramenti.

Unde nota, quod est forma verbi, quae exprimit actum et intentionem5; et talis est per modum indicativum et non est de Sacramenti necessitate, sed congruitate; et haec in aliquibus habetur Ecclesiis, sed non in Romana, quae maxime vitat ea quae possunt esse occasio deviandi. Et est forma, quae exprimit orationem; et quoniam oratio est per modum deprecativum, talis forma est deprecativa; et haec est de necessitate Sacramenti huius et habetur in omnibus Ecclesiis, quoniam haec tangitur in institutione huius Sacramenti. Et quoniam non exprimitur verbum determinatum, sed solum oratio fidei; ideo non oportet, quod sit uniformitas in verbo6 orationis, sed solum, quod sit in sensu.

Si autem quaeras, quare in isto Sacramento potius est oratio de essentia quam in alio; respondetur, quod ratio principalis est institutio. Si quaeras rationem institutionis; dici potest, quod haec habet rationem congruitatis multiplicem. Prima est ex parte suscipientis, qui propter infirmitatem est destitutus; ideo oratione est relevandus. — Secunda est ex parte modi curandi, qui est per devotionem et elevationem animae ad spiritualia; et quia quod super omnia excitat animam ad hoc est oratio; ideo etc. — Tertia ratio est ex parte morbi, quoniam hic fit remissio peccati, interveniente ministerio sacerdotis; et quoniam in remissione culpae sacerdos non se habet nisi per modum deprecantis — unde et in absolutione sua utitur oratione deprecativa, ut in praecedentibus7 habitum est — hinc est, quod optime institutum fuit; unctionem non fieri sine oratione, cuius expressio est forma Sacramenti, ut ostendunt rationes. — His visis, facile est respondere ad obiecta.

1. Ad illud enim quod obiicitur, quod non habet ortum ex fonte sacrae Scripturae; dicendum, quod falsum est, ut patet; immo ab illo verbo beati Iacobi: Oratio fidei salvabit infirmum.

2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod non est eadem forma; dicendum, quod secundum id quod est necessarium et essentiale Sacramento, eandem oportet esse; sed forma verbi non est necessaria ratione vocis exterioris, sed prout est expressiva verbi interioris8.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur de oratione indicativa, dicendum, quod non est simile de hoc Sacramento et de aliis, pro eo quod illud habet aliquam specialem orationem, quam non habuit9 aliud, ut visum est.

4. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod melius oratur gemitu cordis; dicendum, quod in Sacramentis, quia sunt signa exteriora, non tantum consideratur quod est interius, sed etiam signum exterius, ratione cuius habent rationem Sacramenti; et sic patet totum. Quamvis enim aliquis crederet Trinitatem, nisi exprimeretur in baptizando, non daret Sacramentum10. Sic in proposito est intelligendum.

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English Translation
p. 594

Question IV. Whether the form of the word belongs to the essence of the Sacrament.

In the fourth place inquiry is made concerning the form of this Sacrament, and it is asked whether the form of the word belongs to the essence of this Sacrament. And that it does, seems [to be shown]:

1. First, by the rite of the universal Church, which everywhere confers the anointing together with a priestly blessing.

2. Likewise, it is proved by that [text] of James1: Let him bring in the presbyters, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil: therefore a prayer is set before the anointing, and it seems that it belongs to the integrity [of the Sacrament] just as the anointing does; and this is proved by the following text: The prayer of faith shall save the sick man: therefore the efficacy of the Sacrament resides principally in the word of the prayer.

3. Likewise, this same thing seems [to hold] by a parallel in the other Sacraments: for the Sacraments of the new law sanctify through the word, as Hugh says2: therefore by like reasoning it seems that this Sacrament [does so too].

4. Likewise, just as in the others an intention is necessary, and therefore there is also a word restricting the intention3; so too in this one an intention is necessary: therefore by like reasoning [there is required] also the utterance of a word expressing or restricting the intention.

On the contrary:

1. All the Sacraments take their origin from the fount of sacred Scripture, because there is no Sacrament in the Church that is not described in Scripture; but the form of this Sacrament is nowhere described, neither by the Evangelist nor by the Apostle: therefore etc.

2. Likewise, all the Sacraments that have a form ought to have the same [form] throughout the whole catholic Church, because a variation of the form is a variation of the Sacrament, and a Sacrament cannot be otherwise than uniform, just as faith and the Church [are]; but this Sacrament does not have the same form. For in the Gregorian Church4 this is the form: « Through this holy anointing and His most merciful mercy may the Lord forgive you whatever you have done amiss by the fault of the eyes »; in the Ambrosian [Church] this is [the form]: « I anoint you with sanctified oil in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, that, prepared after the manner of an anointed soldier for the contest, you may be able to overcome the aerial powers », or one similar to this. Therefore it does not seem that any form is substantial.

3. Likewise, all the forms of the Sacraments have been handed down through an indicative utterance; but the form of this p. 595Sacrament has been handed down through a deprecative prayer1: therefore either it does not seem suitably assigned, or it is not a form, since the Sacraments of the new law posit their effect with certainty: therefore they ought to be expressed through an indicative utterance, not through a deprecative one.

4. Likewise, according to blessed James2 it is the prayer of faith that is necessary: if therefore prayer is [directed] to God, and God is better prayed to by the groaning of the heart than by the voice of the mouth; it seems that for the perfection of this Sacrament it is not necessary that anything be expressed orally.

It is asked, therefore, whether it has a form, and what the form is, and in what mode.

Conclusion

The essential form of extreme unction is a deprecative prayer.

I respond: It must be said that some wished to say that this Sacrament did not have3 an essential form of the word, but [only] one that was for its well-being; and therefore it was not expressed, nor is it found single in the Church, but various. — But nevertheless it is not safe to say this, nor [is it] according to the text of Scripture, since in the institution of this Sacrament James seems to place the greatest force in the prayer and to attribute the whole efficacy to it, when he says: The prayer of faith shall save; he does not say: the anointing. But the prayer of faith is said [to be] not that of the anointer himself, but that of the Church herself, in whose faith the Sacraments are administered. Just as, therefore, in the other Sacraments it does not suffice to believe with the heart, unless a profession be made in the outward word4; so it must be understood here, that a mental prayer without a vocal one does not suffice.

And therefore the form of the word belongs to the integrity of the Sacrament — the form, I say, of the word, insofar as it is expressive of the prayer of faith; and this on account of such an institution of this Sacrament.

Hence note that there is a form of the word which expresses the act and the intention5; and such a [form] is by way of the indicative and is not of the necessity of the Sacrament, but of its congruity; and this is had in some Churches, but not in the Roman [Church], which especially avoids those things that can be an occasion of deviating. And there is a form which expresses the prayer; and since the prayer is by way of deprecation, such a form is deprecative; and this belongs to the necessity of this Sacrament and is had in all the Churches, since it is touched upon in the institution of this Sacrament. And since a determinate word is not expressed, but only the prayer of faith; therefore it is not necessary that there be uniformity in the word6 of the prayer, but only that there be [uniformity] in the sense.

But if you ask why in this Sacrament the prayer belongs to the essence rather than in another; the answer is that the principal reason is the institution. If you ask the reason of the institution; it can be said that this has a manifold ground of congruity. The first is on the part of the recipient, who because of his infirmity is destitute; therefore he is to be relieved by prayer. — The second is on the part of the manner of curing, which is through devotion and the elevation of the soul to spiritual things; and because that which above all things excites the soul to this is prayer; therefore etc. — The third reason is on the part of the disease, since here the remission of sin takes place, the ministry of the priest intervening; and since in the remission of guilt the priest bears himself only in the manner of one who prays deprecatingly — whence also in his absolution he uses a deprecative prayer, as has been treated in the preceding7 — hence it is that it was most excellently instituted, that the anointing not take place without a prayer, whose expression is the form of the Sacrament, as the reasons show. — These things having been seen, it is easy to reply to the objections.

1. To that, then, which is objected, that it does not take its origin from the fount of sacred Scripture; it must be said that this is false, as is evident; indeed [it takes its origin] from that word of blessed James: The prayer of faith shall save the sick man.

2. To that which is objected, that the form is not the same; it must be said that, according to that which is necessary and essential to the Sacrament, it must be the same; but the form of the word is not necessary by reason of the outward voice, but insofar as it is expressive of the inward word8.

3. To that which is objected concerning the indicative prayer, it must be said that it is not the same with this Sacrament and with the others, because this one has a certain special prayer which no other had9, as has been seen.

4. To that which is objected, that one prays better by the groaning of the heart; it must be said that in the Sacraments, because they are outward signs, not only is that which is inward considered, but also the outward sign, by reason of which they have the character of a Sacrament; and thus the whole is clear. For although someone were to believe the Trinity, unless it were expressed in baptizing, he would not confer the Sacrament10. So it must be understood in the case at hand.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Cap. 5, 14: Inducat presbyteros Ecclesiae, et orent super eum, ungentes etc. — Seq. locus est ibid. v. 15. — Inferius pro et videtur codd. F I K videtur ergo, et pro ita cod. F oratio, edd. cum aliquot codd. illa.
    Chapter 5, 14: Let him bring in the presbyters of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him etc. — The following passage is in the same place, v. 15. — Below, for et videtur codices F I K [read] videtur ergo, and for ita codex F [reads] oratio, the editions with some codices illa.
  2. 2
    Libr. 1. de Sacram. p. IX. c. 2, ubi docet, Sacramentum praeter significationem et institutionem habere ex appositi verbi vel signi benedictione sanctificationem et efficax esse ad eandem sanctificandis conferendam; accedit enim verbum sanctificationis ad elementum et fit Sacramentum (cfr. supra lit. Magistri, d. III. c. 1. verbum August.). — Cod. F Augustinus. Idem cod. F cum codd. H I K post quia addit alia.
    Book 1, On the Sacraments, part IX, ch. 2, where he teaches that the Sacrament, besides its signification and institution, has sanctification from the blessing of the added word or sign, and is efficacious for conferring that same [sanctification] on those to be sanctified; for the word of sanctification is joined to the element and it becomes a Sacrament (cf. above, the Master's text, d. III, ch. 1, the word August. [Augustine]). — Codex F [reads] Augustinus. The same codex F, with codices H I K, after quia adds alia.
  3. 3
    Ut ostensum est supra d. 6. p. II. a. 2. q. 1.
    As was shown above, d. 6, part II, a. 2, q. 1.
  4. 4
    Vide in Appendice operum Gregorii librum X. Roman. ordin. n. 33, ubi pro indulgeat ponitur parcat. Cfr. tamen Liber Sacramentorum, n. 903. seqq. (ubi alia formula exhibetur) et Notae (n. 903. seqq.), quas Hugo Menardus praenotato libro adiecit, in quibus (n. 912.) refertur inter alias formulas Ambrosiana inferius allegata.
    See in the Appendix of the works of Gregory, book X of the Roman Ordinal, n. 33, where for indulgeat is put parcat. Compare, however, the Liber Sacramentorum, n. 903 ff. (where another formula is exhibited) and the Notes (n. 903 ff.), which Hugo Menard appended to the aforementioned book, in which (n. 912) is reported, among other formulas, the Ambrosian one cited below.
  5. 1
    Vat. omittit verba indicativam usque ad deprecativam. Inferius post exprimi codd. N aa addunt potius.
    The Vatican [edition] omits the words from indicativam to deprecativam. Below, after exprimi, codices N aa add potius.
  6. 2
    Cap. 5, 15. — De oratione eiusque definitione cfr. supra pag. 368, nota 3.
    Chapter 5, 15. — On prayer and its definition, cf. above, page 368, note 3.
  7. 3
    Cod. A habeat.
    Codex A [reads] habeat.
  8. 4
    Vide supra d. 3. p. I. a. 1. q. 2. — Superius post salvabit cod. E supplet infirmum.
    See above, d. 3, part I, a. 1, q. 2. — Above, after salvabit, codex E supplies infirmum.
  9. 5
    Codd. F I K N aa (A primitus) addunt verbi, codd. E U S T W Z et ed. I Iacobi. Mox post Sacramenti in cod. T (X a secunda manu) additur huius.
    Codices F I K N aa (A originally) add verbi; codices E U S T W Z and edition I, Iacobi. Soon after, following Sacramenti, in codex T (X by a second hand) huius is added.
  10. 6
    Codd. I K forma.
    Codices I K [read] forma.
  11. 7
    Dist. 18. p. I. a. 2. q. 1.
    Distinction 18, part I, a. 2, q. 1.
  12. 8
    Cfr. supra d. 8. p. II. a. 1. q. 2.
    Cf. above, d. 8, part II, a. 1, q. 2.
  13. 9
    Cod. E habet, edd. habent alia.
    Codex E [reads] habet, the editions habent alia.
  14. 10
    Ut ostensum est supra d. 3. p. I. a. 2. q. 2. — Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.
    As was shown above, d. 3, part I, a. 2, q. 2. — See the scholion to the preceding question. ---
Cited by

1 place in the Opera Omnia citesthis question. Derived from Quaracchi’s own apparatus, never tagged by hand.

When the character is imprinted in the diverse orders
Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 24 · 2×
supra d. 23. a. 1. q. 4.

1 further reference addresses the article or printed page this question belongs to, rather than the question itself.

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