ex oper operato

[thessalonian]

I was listening on Protestant radio this morning and the way talking about the decree Catholics and Evangelics together. Of course one of their complaints was that according to them it was salvation by works. The sited as evidence the phrase applied to sacraments, ex oper operato - by virtue of the action performed, i.e. it must be a work. Is this true? Something stuck me as odd that I hadn't thought about before. They of course spoke of sacraments and how a baby is baptized to "get saved". Is this salvation by works as they charged it to? Is the individual saving himself? I have thought often in discussions of whether baptism was salvific if there was anyone in the new testament who "got saved" and did not get baptized. I know of none. Back to ex oper operato, it seems to me and I would like someone to comment on this, the action in the phrase is the action of the Church by which God responds and brings about salvatoin, i.e. the holy spirit in the one who desires to be a follower of Christ. This makes much more sense and thus takes away the idea that we are saving ourselves because we have to to faith. It also seems to fit better with going down the path of obedience, i.e. showing your faith by your walk. Further the very idea that communion is given by a communion minister or a priest, the main purpose being that we are recieving the Eucharist (i.e. grace) rather than taking grace. The gift.


I found this by Robert Sungeis and it put an interesting twist on this that I had noticed before but hadn't put in to words yet. The Mass is so much greater it seems to me than a service in which we are the focus and what we get out of it.

Protestant liturgy is non-sacramental, ex opere operantis not ex opere operato. When I was an Anglican our liturgy was very reverent, very devout and correct, and was carried out with great decorum. But it all depended on us. There was no sense of anything objectively happening on the altar table - for the very good reason, of course, that nothing did happen on the altar table.

[url="http://www.catholicintl.com/catholicissues/new-rite-print.htm"]http://www.catholicintl.com/catholicissues...-rite-print.htm[/url]

The church is the tool for salvation it seems to me and noone can come to Christ except by coming to her. Cornelius needed to have Peter come to him and it was said "this day salvation has been brought to your household". Ex oper operato is not about saving ourselves by our works but the saving work of the Church.

I am correct on this?
Your thoughts greatly appreciated....

God bless

[phatcatholic]

the catechism explains "ex opere operato" brilliantly:[list][b]1127[/b] Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify.48 They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies. The Father always hears the prayer of his Son's Church which, in the epiclesis of each sacrament, expresses her faith in the power of the Spirit. As fire transforms into itself everything it touches, so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life whatever is subjected to his power.

[b]1128 [/b]This is the meaning of the Church's affirmation49 that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of the action's being performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God."50 From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

[u]References:[/u]
[b]48 [/b]Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1605; DS 1606.
[b]49 [/b]Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1608.
[b]50 [/b]St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 68,8.
[/list]so, you are correct. the sacraments are the work of Christ, not of man. they depend on his virtue, not ours.

also, you asked if anyone in the bible had been "saved" w/o being baptized. the most often cited example is the theif on the cross, who was guaranteed a place in heaven by Jesus b/c of the faith that he showed. i usually answer this by saying that Jesus is not bound by his sacraments, but we are. he can choose to save man however he wishes, but if we want salvation we must be baptized. also, baptism is the normative means of salvation, not the exclusive means (exceptions include baptism of blood or desire).

i hope that helps

pax christi,
phatcatholic

[thessalonian]

That helps. I'll also probably post Ott Tommorrow. He pretty much confirms what I was thinking.

[phatcatholic]

Ott is the man afterall

[thessalonian]

For the record here is Ott's words from Pg. 329, 330 in Dogma of Catholicism:

2. Efficacy ex opere operato
"The Sacraments work ex opere operato (De fide)

In order to designate the objective efficacy Scholastic Theology coined the formula: Sacramenta operantur ex opere operato, that is, the Sacraments operate by the power of the completed sacramental rite. (The Church performs the rite as opposed to the individual, therein lies the issue). The Council of Tent sanctioned this expression which was vigorously combated by the Reformers: a bunch of Latin stuff...(If anybody says that grace is not conferred ex opere operato by the Sacraments of the New Law A.S.) D 851

The beginning of Scholastic terminology in this matter go back to the second half of the 12th century. A distinction was made, principally in the School of Gilbert of Poitiers firstly in the doctrine of merit and in the question of moral evaluation of Christ's Crucifixion between opus operans, that is, the subjective doing, and opeus operatum, that is the objective deed. The distinction was adapted to the doctrine of the Sacraments and was thus applied to the efficacy of the Sacraments..

By Operus oepratum is understood the valid completion of the sacramental in contradicting to opus operantis, that is the subjective disposition of the recipient. The formula "ex opere operato" asserts negatively, that the sacramental grace is not conferred by reason of the subjective activity of the recipient, and positively, that the sacramental grace is caused by the validity a Christo operato is historically false; for the scholastic term does not purport to indicate the source of sacramental grace, but the nature and manner of the sacramental operation of grace.
Against frequent distortions and reproaches it must be stressed that the Catholic teaching of the efficacy of the Sacraments ex opere operato must in no wise be interpreted in in the sense of a mechanical or magical efficacy. The opus operantis is not excluded. On the contrary in the case of the adult recipient it is expressly demanded. Nevertheless the subjective disposition of the recipient is not the cause of grace; it is merely an indispensable pre-condition of the communication of grace. The measure of grace effected ex opere operato even depends on the grade of the subjective disposition. We receive grace according to the measure given by the Holy Spirit as HE wills according to each one's own disposition and cooperation.