Matrimony Chapter I §3: Sacramental Effects

§3: Sacramental Effects

SECTION i. Increase of Sanctifying Grace. — The first effect of Christian marriage is an increase of sanctifying grace. “If anyone saith,” defines the Tridentine Council, ” that Matrimony … does not confer grace, let him be anathema.” 1 Whenever the Council speaks of grace conferred by a Sacrament, it means sanctifying grace. Matrimony, being a symbol of Christ’s union with His mystic spouse, necessarily presupposes the state of sanctifying grace, and hence its first and principal effect can be none other than to augment that grace. It follows that Matrimony is, by its very concept, a Sacrament of the living. If it is received in the state of mortal sin, there are two possibilities : Either the unworthy recipient is conscious of the state of his soul, or he is unconscious. In the former case he commits a sacrilege by receiving the Sacrament informe or ficte, as it were under false pretences, and thereby deprives himself of its graces, at least so long as the obstacle (obex gratiae) is not removed by an act of perfect contrition or the worthy reception of Penance. In the latter case he is unconscious of being in the state of mortal sin, and hence acts in good faith 1 Sets, XXIV, can. x : ” Si quis dixerit, matrimonium … neque gratiam conferre, anathema sit/’ 1 68 and may, if he has imperfect contrition, receive sanctifying grace per accidens. 2. The Sacramental Grace of Matrimony. — Besides increasing sanctifying grace, matrimony confers certain special graces. This is evident a priori from a consideration of the great importance of this Sacrament for family, State, and Church, as well as the onerous nature of the duties and burdens which it imposes. The ” sacramental grace ” of Matrimony probably consists in a claim based upon and confirmed by sanctifying grace, which claim entitles the recipient to the actual graces (gratiae actuates) necessary for faithfully performing the duties of the married state. The Tridentine Council says : ” The grace which might perfect that natural love [of husband and wife for each other] and confirm that indissoluble union and sanctify the married, Christ Himself … merited for us by His Passion; as the Apostle Paul intimates, saying: ‘Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church.’ … Impious men of this age, in their foolish rage, have not only harbored false notions touching this venerable Sacrament, but, introducing … a carnal liberty/’ etc.2 An analysis of this teaching enables us to distinguish a twofold class of graces conferred by Matrimony: (1) such as impart strength for the faithful performance of the duties of the married state, and (2) such as serve as 2 Sess. XXIV, Prooem.: ” Gro* gite uxores vestras, sicut Christ us Horn vero, quae natural*** amorem dilexit Ecclesiam … Impii homines perHceret, ei indissolubUem unionem huius saeculi insanientes non soconHrmaret coniugesque sanctifica- lum per per am de hoc venerabili soret, ipse Christus … sua) nobis cramento senserunt, sed … liberpassione promeruit. Quod Paulus tatem carnis introducentes” etc. Apostolus innuit dicens: Viri, dili> (Denzinger-Btsmwart, n. 969). 170 MATRIMONY a medicine against the temptations of the flesh. To the former class belong the perfection of the natural love which husband and wife have for each other, after the pattern of Christ’s love for His mystical spouse; conscientiousness in the begetting and rearing of children; prudence in daily intercourse ; patience and trust in God ; mutual forbearance, etc. The latter class comprises those actual graces that counteract the threefold concupiscence which human flesh is heir to since the Fall.8 3. The Quasi-Character of Matrimony. — Another effect peculiar to Matrimony is the marriage bond (vinculum matrimoniale) , which symbolizes the one and indissoluble union of Christ with His mystic spouse, the Church. This effect strongly resembles the sacramental character imprinted by Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders,4 and hence is often called quasi-character. Bellarmine5 and Sanchez6 regard the marriage bond as a sort of permanent Sacrament. But this view is 8 Cfr. St Bonaventure, C. in Sent,, IV, dist a6, art. a, qu. 2: “Ex hoc gratia fit remedium contra triply cem inordinationem concupiscentiae it nascitur triplex bonum matrimonii. Concupiscentia enim inclinat ad multas, quia luxuriosus non est una [muliere] contentus; et matrimonio datur gratia homini, ut soli uxori velit- coniungi et ita pronitas ad multas excluditur per copulam singularem. Concupiscentia etiam inclinat ad delectationem, non ad utilitatem, quia luxuriosus non quaerit nisi sotisf actionem appetitivae sen appetitus sensitivi: datur ergo gratia in matrimonio, ut non cognoscat uxorem nisi propter prolem, et ita excluditur delectatio per copulam utilem. Item concupiscentia fastidium generat post impletionem, unde luxuriosus, postquam cognovit unam, illam respuit et vadit ad aliam; in matrimonio vero datur gratia, ut semper velit esse cum una et ita excluditur variorum concupiscentia per copulam inseparabilem.” — Needless to add, all these graces become efficacious only if husband and wife faithfully cooperate with them. 4 Cfr. Pohle-Preuss, The Sacraments, Vol. I, p. 95. &De Matrimonio, I, 6. 6 De Matrimonio, I II, diip. 5, untenable. The Sacrament proper (sacramentum tantutn) in Matrimony is the transient act by which the conjugal contract is formed, just as the Sacrament of Baptism is the transient act of ablution. But the bond of wedlock is a permanent effect, bearing a striking resemblance to the character imprinted by Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, and hence must be regarded as res et sacramentum, and may justly be styled “quasicharacter/’ especially in view of the fact that it renders the Sacrament incapable of repetition during the lifetime of both contracting parties. It would be wrong, however, to ascribe to Matrimony a sacramental character in the strict sense. The mark imprinted on the soul by this Sacrament, unlike the character imparted by the other three Sacraments mentioned, is not physical, but purely moral. From the “quasi-character” of Matrimony flow the two properties of Christian marriage, viz.: unity (wnitas) and indissolubility (indissolubilitas) .