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Dist. 24, Part 1, Art. 2, Q. 2

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 24

Textus Latinus
p. 615

Quaestio II. Utrum ordo sit Sacramentum.

Secundo quaeritur, utrum ordo sit Sacramentum. Et quod sic, ostenditur:

1. Per divisionem Sacramentorum, quae ponuntur esse septem, inter quae et ordo connumeratur, quae divisio supra habita est, distinctione secunda1.

2. Item, in Ecclesia est ordinata potestas, quae p. 616 manifestatur per aliqua signa et confirmatur per institutionem divinam, et illa est res sacra; haec autem dicunt rationem Sacramenti perfectam2: ergo etc.

3. Item, illud est propriissime Sacramentum quod maxime Deo consecrat in sui ipsius susceptione; sed tale quid est ordo ecclesiasticus, unde et sacerdotes3 vocantur qui ad gradum supremum perveniunt — ergo ordo maxime est Sacramentum.

4. Item, illud potissime est Sacramentum, per quod Sacramenta cetera conferuntur et dispensantur; tale autem est Sacramentum ordinis4: ergo inter cetera videtur esse Sacramentum praecipuum.

Contra: 1. Omne Sacramentum est elementum sive signum quod offert se sensibus5, ordo autem est quid relativum: ergo ordo non est Sacramentum.

2. Item, omne Sacramentum est in medicamentum secundum statum naturae lapsae6; sed ordo est ad perficiendum aliquos — unde non ordinantur, nisi qui quodam modo volunt aggredi opera perfectionis — ergo ordo cadit a ratione Sacramenti.

3. Item, in Angelis est ordo; et tamen non tenet rationem Sacramenti: ergo pari ratione nec in hierarchia inferiori. Si tu dicas, quod non est simile, quia ibi est totum spirituale; obiicitur de laicis, qui sunt de Ecclesia7 et suscipiunt Sacramenta et habent ordinem et potestatem et signa potestatis, ut rex habet sceptrum et purpuram et coronam; et tamen ordo talis non est Sacramentum.

4. Item, ordo ita respicit quod est inferius, sicut quod est superius, quia, utroque destructo, destruitur ordo; sed ordo quantum ad subditos non est Sacramentum: ergo nec quantum ad alios. Minor patet, quia, cum omnes sint subditi, vel praelati, omnes haberent Sacramentum ordinis; quod manifeste falsum est.

5. Item, in hierarchia caelesti est «ordo, scientia et actio», sicut vult beatus Dionysius8: ergo si ei debet Ecclesia respondere, similiter videtur, quod sit in humana. Sed scientia et actio non ponuntur inter Sacramenta: ergo nec ordo.

Conclusio

Conclusio. Signum sensibile, quo confertur ordinata potestas spiritualis, quae recte dicitur ordo, est Sacramentum.

Respondeo: Ad praedictorum intelligentiam est notandum, quod ordo dupliciter dicitur. Uno modo dicitur ordo ipsa relatio ordinatorum, ut praelatio et subiectio; et haec non dicitur nec est Sacramentum. Alio modo dicitur ordo ordinata potestas, secundum quam ipsum subiectum potens habet ordinari dupliciter, scilicet ad opus vel ad ministerium, et habet etiam ordinari ad alterum; hanc autem potestatem dicimus ordinis Sacramentum.

Hanc autem necesse est poni in Ecclesia propter regimen et decorem, quae attenduntur penes ordinem, ut prius9 visum est, quare debet esse in Ecclesia ordo. — Sed principalior ratio, quare haec potestas debet conferri per modum Sacramenti, est propter Sacramentorum dignitatem, quae in Ecclesia dispensantur, et in quibus Deus colitur; quae ut non venirent in contemptum, non debuerunt omnibus committi dispensanda, sed personis specialibus10; et dum his committitur quod aliis non datur, datur his potestas, per quam speciali ordine situantur in Ecclesia Dei. Et quoniam hi debebant ab aliis per signa aliqua secerni; et signum istud est rei sacrae: ideo potestas haec debuit ordinari per modum Sacramenti; et illud convenientissimum est. Cum enim sit ad Sacramentorum ordinatam distributionem11, debuerunt ministri ad hoc ordinari per alicuius Sacramenti susceptionem, in quo datur potestas, per quam ministri Dei ad ministrandum et inter se etiam ordinantur; ideo recte ordo appellatur. — His visis, obiecta in contrarium de facili terminantur.

1. Quod enim obiicitur, quod est elementum; dicendum, quod in collatione huius potestatis aliquod signum est extra, quod largo modo appellatur elementum, quoniam largo et extenso modo sumitur in definitione Sacramenti12.

2. Ad illud quod obiicitur de medicamento, dicendum, quod ordo non est tantum in medicamentum respectu suscipientis, sed etiam respectu aliorum; unde maxime tenet rationem Sacramenti. Nec illud obviat quod dicitur, quod debet dari perfectis; quoniam nemo reperitur ita perfectus, quin ulterius possit perfici. Unde quilibet hoc Sacramentum suscipiens aliquam gratiam recipit, si digne recipiat, per quam excluditur difficultas ministrandi in his quae pertinent ad cultum Dei.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod ordo est in Angelis et in laicis; dicendum, quod utrobique deficit ratio Sacramenti: quoniam duo sunt quae integrant Sacramentum, scilicet sensibile signum, et p. 617 spirituale sive sacrum signatum; ratione primi deficit in Angelis, qui sunt omnino spirituales; ratione vero secundi deficit in laicis, in quibus ordo attenditur quantum ad potestatem terrenam, quae respicit bona naturae vel fortunae specialis personae vel reipublicae; in ecclesiastica vero hierarchia contingit utrumque.

4. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod ordo respicit inferius etc.; dicendum, quod ipse obiicit de ordine, prout dicit relationem, sed hoc modo non est Sacramentum, sed prout dicit potestatem, supra quam fundatur illa relatio; et haec ponit aliquid in his qui praeferuntur per aliquid sibi datum, nihil vero in his qui subiiciuntur13.

5. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod scientia et actio non dicunt Sacramentum; dicendum, quod scientia et actio sunt annexa, et ordo est principale; unde cum ponitur ordo esse Sacramentum, alia duo simul includuntur; et illud superius14 tactum est, quando agebatur de potestate clavium.

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English Translation
p. 615

Question II. Whether order is a sacrament.

Secondly it is asked whether order is a sacrament. And that it is, is shown:

1. By the division of the sacraments, which are held to be seven, among which order too is numbered, which division was given above, in the second distinction1.

2. Likewise, in the Church there is an ordained power, which p. 616 is manifested through certain signs and confirmed by divine institution, and this is a sacred thing; but these [features] state the complete account of a sacrament2: therefore etc.

3. Likewise, that is most properly a sacrament which most consecrates a person to God in the very receiving of it; but such is ecclesiastical order, whence too they are called priests3 who attain the supreme grade — therefore order is most of all a sacrament.

4. Likewise, that is most powerfully a sacrament through which the other sacraments are conferred and dispensed; but such is the sacrament of order4: therefore among the rest it seems to be the preeminent sacrament.

On the contrary: 1. Every sacrament is an element or sign that offers itself to the senses5, but order is something relative: therefore order is not a sacrament.

2. Likewise, every sacrament is [given] as a medicine according to the state of fallen nature6; but order is for perfecting certain persons — whence none are ordained except those who in some way wish to undertake the works of perfection — therefore order falls short of the account of a sacrament.

3. Likewise, in the angels there is order; and yet it does not hold the account of a sacrament: therefore by parity of reasoning neither in the lower hierarchy. If you say that it is not similar, because there [all] is wholly spiritual; the objection is raised concerning laymen, who belong to the Church7 and receive the sacraments and have order and power and signs of power, as a king has scepter and purple and crown; and yet such order is not a sacrament.

4. Likewise, order regards what is inferior just as [what is] superior, because, when either is destroyed, order is destroyed; but order with respect to subjects is not a sacrament: therefore neither with respect to the others. The minor is evident, because, since all are either subjects or prelates, all would have the sacrament of order; which is manifestly false.

5. Likewise, in the celestial hierarchy there is «order, knowledge, and action», as blessed Dionysius holds8: therefore, if the Church ought to correspond to it, it likewise seems that [the same] is in the human [hierarchy]. But knowledge and action are not counted among the sacraments: therefore neither is order.

Conclusion

Conclusion. A sensible sign, by which is conferred the ordained spiritual power that is rightly called order, is a sacrament.

I respond: For the understanding of the aforesaid it must be noted that "order" is said in two ways. In one way order is called the very relation of those set in order, as prelacy and subjection; and this is not called, nor is it, a sacrament. In another way order is called an ordained power, according to which the empowered subject itself can be ordered in two ways, namely to a work or to a ministry, and it also has [the capacity] to be ordered toward another; and this power we call the sacrament of order.

And this must necessarily be posited in the Church for the sake of governance and comeliness, which are attended to by order, as was seen earlier9, wherefore there ought to be order in the Church. — But the more principal reason why this power ought to be conferred by way of a sacrament is on account of the dignity of the sacraments, which are dispensed in the Church and in which God is worshipped; and lest these come into contempt, they ought not to be committed to all to be dispensed, but to special persons10; and while there is committed to these what is not given to others, there is given to these a power by which they are established in the Church of God by a special order. And since these had to be marked off from others by certain signs; and this sign is of a sacred thing: therefore this power had to be ordained by way of a sacrament; and that is most fitting. For since it is for the ordained distribution of the sacraments11, the ministers had to be ordained for this by the reception of some sacrament, in which a power is given, by which the ministers of God are ordered both to minister and also among themselves; therefore it is rightly called order. — These things seen, the objections to the contrary are easily settled.

1. As to what is objected, that it is an element; it must be said that in the conferral of this power there is some sign externally, which in a broad sense is called an element, since [element] is taken in a broad and extended sense in the definition of a sacrament12.

2. To what is objected concerning medicine, it must be said that order is not only [given] as a medicine with respect to the recipient, but also with respect to others; whence it most holds the account of a sacrament. Nor does that stand in the way which is said, that it ought to be given to the perfect; since no one is found so perfect that he cannot be further perfected. Whence anyone receiving this sacrament receives some grace, if he receive worthily, by which is removed the difficulty of ministering in those things which pertain to the worship of God.

3. To what is objected, that order is in the angels and in laymen; it must be said that in both cases the account of a sacrament is lacking: for there are two things which constitute a sacrament, namely a sensible sign, and p. 617 a spiritual or sacred thing signified; by reason of the first it is lacking in the angels, who are wholly spiritual; by reason of the second it is lacking in laymen, in whom order is regarded with respect to earthly power, which regards the goods of nature or of fortune of a particular person or of the republic; but in the ecclesiastical hierarchy both occur.

4. To what is objected, that order regards the inferior, etc.; it must be said that he objects concerning order insofar as it states a relation, but in this way it is not a sacrament, but insofar as it states a power, upon which that relation is founded; and this places something in those who are preferred by something given to them, but nothing in those who are subjected13.

5. To what is objected, that knowledge and action do not state a sacrament; it must be said that knowledge and action are annexed [to it], and order is the principal thing; whence when order is posited to be a sacrament, the other two are included together; and that was touched on above14, when treating of the power of the keys.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Art. I. q. 3. et dub. 1.
    Art. 1, q. 3, and dubium 1 [where the sevenfold division of the sacraments is treated].
  2. 2
    Cfr. supra lit. Magistri, d. I. c. 2. 4, et Comment. p. I. q. 2. — De maiori vide hic lit. Magistri, c. 13.
    Cf. above, the Master's text, d. 1, c. 2, 4, and the Commentary, p. 1, q. 2. — On the major [premise] see here the Master's text, c. 13.
  3. 3
    Id est Deo sacrati, sive ut hic in lit. Magistri, c. 11, dicitur, sacrum dantes. Varro putat sacerdotes a sacris dici.
    That is, consecrated to God, or, as it is said here in the Master's text, c. 11, "those giving the sacred." Varro thinks that priests (sacerdotes) are so named from sacred things (sacris).
  4. 4
    S. Thom., hic q. 1. a. 1. quaestiunc. 3.: Praeterea «propter quod unumquodque, et illud magis» [Aristot. I. Poster. c. 2.]; sed propter ordinem efficitur homo dispensator aliorum Sacramentorum; ergo etc.
    St. Thomas, here q. 1, a. 1, quaestiuncula 3: "Moreover, that on account of which each thing [is such] is itself more so" [Aristotle, Posterior Analytics I, c. 2]; but on account of order a man is made the dispenser of the other sacraments; therefore etc.
  5. 5
    Ut docet supra Magister in lit. d. I. c. 2. seqq. et d. VIII. c. 6.
    As the Master teaches above in the text, d. 1, c. 2 ff., and d. 8, c. 6.
  6. 6
    Vide supra d. 2. a. 1. q. 1. seqq.
    See above, d. 2, a. 1, q. 1 ff.
  7. 7
    Non pauci codd. in Ecclesia.
    Not a few codices [read] in Ecclesia ("in the Church").
  8. 8
    De Caelesti Hierarch. c. 3. § 1. Cfr. II. Sent. d. 9. Praenotata.
    On the Celestial Hierarchy, c. 3, § 1. Cf. Book II of the Sentences, d. 9, the Prefatory notes (Praenotata).
  9. 9
    Quaest. praeced. — Superius pro dicimus multi codd. dicemus.
    The preceding question. — Above, for dicimus ("we say") many codices [read] dicemus ("we shall say").
  10. 10
    Cfr. supra d. 13. a. 1. q. 2. — Edd. male spiritualibus.
    Cf. above, d. 13, a. 1, q. 2. — The editions wrongly [read] spiritualibus ("spiritual") [for specialibus].
  11. 11
    Edd. dispositionem et distributionem. Inferius pro terminantur cod. G determinantur.
    The editions [read] dispositionem et distributionem ("disposition and distribution"). Below, for terminantur ("are settled") codex G [reads] determinantur ("are determined").
  12. 12
    Cfr. supra d. 22. a. 2. q. 2. ad 1. — Plures codd. omittunt additam rationem quoniam... Sacramenti.
    Cf. above, d. 22, a. 2, q. 2, in the reply to 1. — Several codices omit the added clause quoniam... Sacramenti ("since... of a sacrament").
  13. 13
    Boeth., de Trin. c. 5, referens pro relatione exemplum de domino et servo, subinde ait: Sed non accidit servus domino, ut albedo albo, sed potestas quaedam, qua servus coercetur etc.
    Boethius, On the Trinity, c. 5, adducing as an example of relation [that] of master and servant, then says: "But the servant is not an accident of the master, as whiteness is of a white thing, but [there is] a certain power by which the servant is constrained," etc.
  14. 14
    Dist. 18. p. 1. a. 3. q. 1. seq. — Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.
    Distinction 18, p. 1, a. 3, q. 1 f. — See the scholion on the preceding question. ---
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