Grade 10 Western Civilization Lesson 108

Today I learned about The Medieval Church: Sacraments and Liturgy.

• Sacrament: sensible sign of invisible grace
  • Sensible: can be perceived by at least of the five senses
• Catholic theology of justification*
  • The soul, darkened by sin, is actually cleansed by God’s grace
  • This grace is conveyed by the sacraments
  • *The process by which the soul is made pleasing to God
• Sacraments (7 in total)
  • Baptism
    • Stain of original sin washed away, though effects remain
    • Sensibility: water
  • Penance
    • All mortal sins on the conscience must be confessed to a priest, acting in persona Christi
    • In persona Christi: In the person of Christ
    • Sensibility: audible
  • Holy Communion
    • Normally given in the context of mass
    • Given to nourish your soul
    • Sensibility: visible, taste
  • Matrimony
    • A couple marries one another
  • Holy Orders
    • Through which a man is made a priest
    • Sensibility: oils
  • Extreme Unction (“anointing of the sick”)
    • Strengthening in grace when you are close to death
  • Conformation
    • Viewed with less importance in middle ages
    • Bestowed by local bishop rather than local priest
    • Given to somebody approaching adulthood
    • Sensibility: oils
  • “Sacraments of the living” and “Sacraments of the dead”
    • Living and dead refer to the state of the soul
    • Sacraments of the dead
      • When mortal sin committed but not confessed soul is “dead”
      • Penance, Baptism
    • Sacraments of the living
      • In state of grace (no unconfessed mortal sin)
      • Holy Communion, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Conformation
    • Extreme Unction
      • While state of grace preferred, those with mortal sins can still receive it
• The Mass
  • Re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross
  • Offered ad Orientem
    • ad Orientem: facing the east
    • Everyone faces the same way
    • Towards the rising sun in the east, signifying Christ’s resurrection
  • Ordinarys
    • Unchanging aspects of the Mass
  • Propers
    • Parts that change every day
  • Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
    • Ordinarys common in song
  • Offered for special intentions, for the dead, etc.