Confession as a Sacrament, Question

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I have read that the traditional definition of a sacrament is something like a “a sign that effects what it signifies” …

The other sacraments have wine, bread, water, oil.

What is the “sign” in the Sacrament of Confession ?

Thanks
 
Jordan_Francis said:
I have read that the traditional definition of a sacrament is something like a “a sign that effects what it signifies” …

The other sacraments have wine, bread, water, oil.

What is the “sign” in the Sacrament of Confession ?

Thanks
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The Absolution. 🙂
 
The outward sign is the priest forgiving the sin as Christ would–the inward grace is, of course, the restoration of life to the soul and the healing of its wounds.
 
St. Augustine defined sacramentum as “a sign of a sacred reality” and “a visible sign of an invisible reality.” This may be what you are thinking.

The Church teaches that the conferral of grace is possible (and the sacrament is considered valid) if three elements are present: (1) proper matter and form; (2) proper intention of the minister: the intention to do as the Church does; and (3) proper disposition of the recipient: the intention to receive grace.

The matter of a sacrament is the essential symbol or gesture that, along with the form, expresses the core sacramental action.

The form of a sacrament is the formula – the essential words of prayer – during the sacramental celebration that define or give form to the symbols or gesture that are used.

For the Sacrament of Reconciliation the matter (or symbol / sign) is contrition, confession, and penance on the part of the individual seeking absolution.

The form is “God, the Father of mercies… and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” “Amen.”\

See: Kurt Stasiak, Sacramental Theology: Means of Grace, Ways of Life, 2001
 
A ‘sign’ doesn’t have to be physical matter - a sign is simply anything that stands for something else. And any words - whether spoken or written - always stand for (or are a ‘sign’ of) the reality they signify.

And no, not all the sacraments need use physical matter. The sacrament of marriage, for example, is effected by the couple exchanging vows. The traditional exchange of rings is not necessary, and there are no other physical signs used. 🤷

So the priest’s WORDS of absolution are not the reality itself, but rather they ARE the sign. Imagine, for example, that you deliberately or knowingly lie in the confessional, deliberately omit a mortal sin or have absolutely no genuine wish to turn away from your sins, you won’t receive the reality of the forgiveness regardless of the words being spoken.
 
LilyM said:
A ‘sign’ doesn’t have to be physical matter - a sign is simply anything that stands for something else. And any words - whether spoken or written - always stand for (or are a ‘sign’ of) the reality they signify.

And no, not all the sacraments need use physical matter. The sacrament of marriage, for example, is effected by the couple exchanging vows. The traditional exchange of rings is not necessary, and there are no other physical signs used. 🤷

So the priest’s WORDS of absolution are not the reality itself, but rather they ARE the sign. Imagine, for example, that you deliberately or knowingly lie in the confessional, deliberately omit a mortal sin or have absolutely no genuine wish to turn away from your sins, you won’t receive the reality of the forgiveness regardless of the words being spoken.
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The old catechism definition of a sacrament is ‘an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace’, or as the OP stated ‘a sign that effects what it signifies’. So in Reconciliation the sign is the words of absolution said by the priest by means of which God always acts unless the penitent has blocked God’s action by the impediments listed above.

My point is that the words are not only the sign of the grace given but actually the cause of it. I think ‘an outward sign of an inward grace’ is a more Protestant definition of a sacrament.
 
Jordan_Francis said:
The other sacraments have wine, bread, water, oil.
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All Sacraments need proper **matter **and form. The bread, water, and oil you mention is matter.

In the Sacrament of confession, the proper matter is the contrition and firm purpose of amendment of the penitent. The proper form is with a priest, and the correct words of absolution.

There are two other Sacraments that do not use physical matter, Matrimony and Holy Orders.
 
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