others.[1] The priesthood of Christ is the source of all divine worship.[2] All the faithful are conformed to Christ by the character impressed upon them in Baptism and Confirmation: and priests also in Ordination.[3] But in Christ Himself there was no character, because He is the examplar and type of all characters; for Christ is the Character or Figure of the Father, and all divine perfection is in Him, of which the character in us is a partial conformity.[4] The character we receive is impressed, not on the essence, but on the powers of the soul—that is, on the intellectual or the affective powers—and is either passive or
- ↑ "Per omnia Sacramenta fit homo particeps sacerdotii Christi, utpote percipiens aliquem effectum ejus; non tamen per omnia Sacramenta aliquis deputatur ad agendum aliquid, vel recipiendum quod pertineat ad cultum sacerdotii Christi; quod quidem exigitur ad hoc quod Sacramentum characterem imprimat."—Summa S. Thomæ, P. iii. q. lxiii. a. 6.
"Character proprie est signaculum quoddam quo aliquid insignitur, ut ordinatum in aliquem finen."—Ibid. a. 3. "Character ordinatur ad ea quæ sunt divini cultus."—Ibid, a. 4.
- ↑ "Totus autem ritus Christiana religionis derivatur a sacerdotio Christi."—Ibid. a. 3.
- ↑ "Pertinet autem aliquod Sacramentum ad divinum cultum tripliciter: uno modo per modum ipsius actionis; alio modo per modum agentis; tertio modo per modum recipients … Sed ad agens in Sacramentis pertinet Sacramentum ordinis … Sed ad recipientes pertinet Sacramentum baptismi … Ad idem etiam ordinatur quoddammodo confirmatio … Et ideo per hæc tria Sacramenta character imprimitur, scilicet per baptismum, confirmationem, et ordinem." Ibid. a. 6.
- ↑ "Et propter hoc etiam Christo non competit habere characterem; sed potestas sacerdotii ejus comparator ad characterem sicut id quod est plenum, et perfectum ad aliquam sui participationem."—Ibid. a. 5.
