Folia Theologica et Canonica 4. 26/18 (2015)

SACRA THEOLOGIA - Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem., A sacramental theology of the family: the unity and harmony of the sacramental order

A SACRAMENTAL THEOLOGY OF THE FAMILY...

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as marriage is something natural, before Christ’s institution, it was already a kind of natural sacrament (though a sacrament in an analogous sense). St. Thomas asserts that “it was necessary before the coming of Christ that there be certain visible signs by which man might express his faith about the future coming of the savior. And signs of this kind are called sacraments.”44 Yet before Christ, matrimony was not a sacrament in the same sense that the seven sacraments of the new law are sacraments: “Matrimony was instituted in the state of innocence not according as it was a sacrament, but according as it is for a duty of nature. Yet, consequently it signified something future about Christ and the Church.”45 However, natural marriage before Christ was a sacrament in an analogous sense: “Before the written law, there were certain sacraments of necessity just as that sacrament of faith which was ordained to the removal of original sin; and similarly, penance which was ordained to the removal of actual sin; and likewise matrimony which was ordained to the multiplication of the human race.”46 By means of human reason, only a part of the meaning and significance of marriage could be discovered. But after the coming of Christ, the full meaning of marriage as a sign of the Incarnation and also the communion of Christ and his Church was revealed. This means that even a non-sacramental, natural marriage has a certain dignity and worth because of its suitability and intrinsic orientation to signify and make known heavenly realities. The Fathers of the Church used to say about the Church of Christ: extra Ecclesiam nulla salus, so also it can be said without exaggeration that extra familiam nulla salus. For no one is saved without the witness of a faithful Christian family: either their own, or someone else’s. The family is the seed and germ of the Church.

IV. Christ the Bridegroom and the Church His Bride

As mentioned above, the principal mystery signified by the sacrament of marriage in the theological tradition of the Church is the mystery of the relationship between Christ and his Church. This truth is directly asserted in the Scriptures. Christ refers to himself as the "Bridegroom.”47 And St. Paul teaches: ‘“For this reason a man shall leave (his) father and (his) mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.”48 Once again, there are many likenesses bet44 S. Thomae Aquinatis, Summa Theologica, Ilia q. 61 art. 3, c.

45 S. Thomae Aquinatis, Summa Theologica, Ilia q. 61 art. 2, ad. 3.

46 S. Thomae Aquinatis, In TV Sent., d. I q. 1 art. 2c, ad. 2.

47 Mt 9:15; Mk 2:19-20; Lk 5:34-35.

4* Eph 5:31-32.