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Objection 1: It would seem that the matter of this sacrament need
not be consecrated by a bishop. Because the consecration of the
Eucharistic elements surpasses that of the matter in this sacrament.
But a priest can consecrate the matter in the Eucharist. Therefore
he can do so in this sacrament also.
Objection 2: Further, in material works the higher art never
prepares the matter for the lower, because the art which applies the
matter is more excellent than that which prepares it, as stated in
Phys. ii, text. 25. Now a bishop is above a priest. Therefore
he does not prepare the matter of a sacrament which is applied by a
priest. But a priest dispenses this sacrament, as we shall state
further on (Question 31). Therefore the consecration of the
matter does not belong to a bishop.
On the contrary, In other anointings also the matter is consecrated
by a bishop. Therefore the same applies to this.
I answer that, The minister of a sacrament produces the effect, not
by his own power, as though he were the principal agent, but by the
efficacy of the sacrament which he dispenses. This efficacy comes, in
the first place, from Christ, and from Him flows down to others in
due order, viz. to the people through the medium of the ministers who
dispense the sacraments, and to the lower ministers through the medium
of the higher ministers who sanctify the matter. Wherefore, in all
the sacraments which require a sanctified matter, the first
consecration of the matter is performed by a bishop, and the
application thereof sometimes by a priest, in order to show that the
priest's power is derived from the bishop's, according to Ps.
132:2: "Like the precious ointment on the head," i.e.
Christ, "that ran down upon the beard of Aaron" first, and then
"to the skirt of his garment."
Reply to Objection 1: The sacrament of the Eucharist consists in
the consecration of the matter and not in its use. Consequently,
strictly speaking, that which is the matter of the sacrament is not a
consecrated thing. Hence no consecration of the matter by a bishop is
required beforehand: but the altar and such like things, even the
priest himself, need to be consecrated, all of which can be done by
none but a bishop: so that in this sacrament also, the priest's power
is shown to be derived from the bishop's, as Dionysius observes
(Eccl. Hier. iii). The reason why a priest can perform that
consecration of matter which is a sacrament by itself, and not that
which, as a sacramental, is directed to a sacrament consisting in
something used by the faithful, is that in respect of Christ's true
body no order is above the priesthood, whereas, in respect of
Christ's mystic body the episcopate is above the priesthood, as we
shall state further on (Question 40, Article 4).
Reply to Objection 2: The sacramental matter is not one that is
made into something else by him that uses it, as occurs in the
mechanical arts: it is one, in virtue of which something is done, so
that it partakes somewhat of the nature of an efficient cause, in so
far as it is the instrument of a Divine operation. Hence the matter
needs to acquire this virtue from a higher art or power, since among
efficient causes, the more prior the cause the more perfect it is,
whereas in material causes, the more prior the matter, the more
imperfect it is.
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