Sacramental power.Thanks to Mark Plaiss for his analysis of the Vatican statement recognizing the validity of the Eucharistic prayer of the Assyrian Church Assyrian Church: see Nestorian Church. ("This, Too, Is My Body," May 19). There is one potential "side effect" of this document that Plaiss does not mention. Once it is recognized that the words of institution The Words of Institution are those used, inserted into a narrative of the Last Supper, in Christian Eucharistic liturgies to recall those used by Jesus on that occasion. Eucharistic scholars sometimes refer to them simply as the verba (Latin for "words"). spoken by the priest during the Eucharistic prayer are not a magic formula, the question arises: Who, then, "makes" the Eucharist? The Holy Spirit, of course, is the principle agent, but the transformation of the gifts is contingent on Adj. 1. contingent on - determined by conditions or circumstances that follow; "arms sales contingent on the approval of congress" contingent upon, dependant on, dependant upon, dependent on, dependent upon, depending on, contingent the faith of the church--and not just that of some "abstract" church, but that of a concrete assembly at a given time in a given place. It is your faith and mine that makes real the sacramental sacramental, in the Roman Catholic Church, aid to devotion that is not a sacrament. Sacramentals are commonly divided into six classes: prayer, anointing, eating, confession, giving, and blessings. presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. God responds to the voice of the church and not to the recitation rec·i·ta·tion n. 1. a. The act of reciting memorized materials in a public performance. b. The material so presented. 2. a. Oral delivery of prepared lessons by a pupil. b. of a mechanical formula. The celebrant is the necessary instrument, but even if he is unworthy or doesn't believe in what he is doing, the faith of those present transforms the bread and the wine. The "royal priesthood" of the faithful is not just a pretty phrase: it connotes real sacramental power. JERRY RYAN Winthrop, Mass. |
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