Do Sacraments persist after death?

[OrbisNonSufficit]

Hey everyone. I’ve been wondering lately, do Sacraments (other than marriage) persist after death? Now my question is perhaps phrased in wrong manner. We know Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders leave mark on the Soul so of course they persist after death. My questions are sort of:

Does unbaptised person who gets to Heaven have same effect of Baptism as Baptized Saint?

Does ordained Priest need his Priesthood in Heaven? Would there be practical distinction in between laity and clergy when it comes to Saints or Souls in Purgatory?

Same stuff as above but about Confirmation/Chrismation.

If Sacraments exist to help our salvation, doesn’t their “job” end when we die? If indeed Heaven means most grace we can get and Sacraments are grace, doesn’t that mean we kind of get all the Sacraments in Heaven regardless? (Provided we get to Heaven of course…)

 

[Vico]

Hey everyone. I’ve been wondering lately, do Sacraments (other than marriage) persist after death? Now my question is perhaps phrased in wrong manner. We know Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders leave mark on the Soul so of course they persist after death. My questions are sort of:

Does unbaptised person who gets to Heaven have same effect of Baptism as Baptized Saint?

Does ordained Priest need his Priesthood in Heaven? Would there be practical distinction in between laity and clergy when it comes to Saints or Souls in Purgatory?

Same stuff as above but about Confirmation/Chrismation.

If Sacraments exist to help our salvation, doesn’t their “job” end when we die? If indeed Heaven means most grace we can get and Sacraments are grace, doesn’t that mean we kind of get all the Sacraments in Heaven regardless? (Provided we get to Heaven of course…)

The effect of baptism is to bring sanctifying grace to the soul, and to eliminate guilt and temporal punishment. Those in heaven or purgatory have that grace, but in purgatory still have temporal punishment. Perhaps the role of deacons and priests continues in heaven with the glorified body. There is greater glory in some in heaven (which includes those with holy orders). There is a different sacrament grace per sacrament, of course some are only received once.

 

[dscath]

Simple answer: No.

Even after the final judgement, the virtues of Faith and Hope no longer exist, and all that remains is charity.

 

[CRM_Brother]

Does unbaptised person who gets to Heaven have same effect of Baptism as Baptized Saint?

This question is unanswered by the Church. We hope for the mercy of God for that person that they might one day enter Heaven but there is no real teaching one way in the sense of this hypothetical. This falls into the realm of speculative theology.

Does ordained Priest need his Priesthood in Heaven? Would there be practical distinction in between laity and clergy when it comes to Saints or Souls in Purgatory?

The priest doesn’t so much need his priesthood in Heaven so much as he cannot be separated from it. The indelible sacramental mark of Holy Orders changes the priest’s soul. The only true difference between laity and clergy when it comes to saints or souls in Purgatory is the standard by which the soul is judged. In accepting that sacramental mark, they accept upon themselves another criteria by which they will be judged. For the laity, the soul is judged simply by the conformity of the soul to Christ (through following His commandments, living the beatitudes, etc.). The priest, while still being judged on this criteria, is also judged upon his commitment to the service which is marked upon his soul. The layman is judged as a sheep whereas the priest is judged as the shepherd.

Same stuff as above but about Confirmation/Chrismation

Confirmation is also like Holy Orders in the sense that it changes the soul and the standard by which the soul is judged. Confirmation, however, is nowhere near as severe a judgement as Holy Orders. The judgement we take upon ourselves is whether or not we have willfully been open to the Holy Spirit working in the world through us. In this seal upon our souls, we simply must follow the urgings of the Holy Spirit, should we be able to identify them.

Now, unless this discernment of the Holy Spirit has been divinely imparted to a specific soul, identifying the urgings of the Holy Spirit is an extremely difficult task in and of itself. It usually takes years of prayer to finally be able to reliably hear the voice of God in our lives, if we ever attain that level of closeness with Him. While this process is very helpful in our lives which Christ, it is not mandated of us in Confirmation. The simple will to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and keeping an eye open to the possibility that God may be calling us to a specific form of life (layman, religious, clergy, hermit, etc) or task (teaching CCD, ushering, volunteering in the community, etc) is enough.

(post 1 of 2)

 

[CRM_Brother]

(post 2 of 2)

If Sacraments exist to help our salvation, doesn’t their “job” end when we die? If indeed Heaven means most grace we can get and Sacraments are grace, doesn’t that mean we kind of get all the Sacraments in Heaven regardless? (Provided we get to Heaven of course…)

This is somewhat of a misconception of what a sacrament is. The final goal of a sacrament is not the future salvation of a soul. It is much more immediate.

Let’s take the sacrament of Reconciliation as an example. There is perfect contrition, in which the sacrament is undertaken specifically for the reason that the penitent is sorry for having gone against God’s love and wishes to be reunited with Him. Ultimately, the penitent’s reasoning has nothing to do with going to Heaven or Hell. The contrition only has to do with his or her present situation and relationship with God. The imperfect contrition, which is not desired by God but is accepted due to God’s mercy, doesn’t ultimately focus on the penitent’s present relationship with God but rather what he or she will eventually get out of the sacrament, Heaven or Hell.

So too, is this perfect and imperfect approach applied to the other sacraments. To perfectly approach a sacrament, the soul must ultimately not worry about whether they will go to Heaven or Hell. Instead, the soul is focused on the here and now. He or she undertakes the sacrament for the sole purpose of deepening their relationship with God. Even in Marriage, in deepening the union between the fiances through the sacrament, they reflect the union of Christ and His Church. They come to Christ together through the sacrament.

To look at Baptism as merely opening Heaven for the baptized soul; to look at Reconcilliation as simply forgiving sins which might send the soul to Hell; to look at the Eucharist as simply food to sustain us on our journey to Heaven; to look at Confirmation as a step to Heaven; to look at Marriage a the way to love your prospective spouse in the right way which will get you to Heaven; to look at Holy Orders as the only way which a priest may enter Heaven; to look at Anointing of the Sick as preparation for Heaven… All these reasonings are imperfect approaches to the sacraments and, while they are permitted by God in His mercy, they are not the ultimate focus which He desires.

To answer this final question: No.

The Sacraments don’t end at our deaths because they continually draw us into a deeper relationship with Christ. Instead, the reality is just the opposite. At our deaths, if we are judged to either enter Purgatory or Heaven directly, the sacraments are made eternal in our souls because that ultimate union with God, which the sacraments began in our souls, is made whole in the Beatific Vision (not the place of Heaven, but rather the act which we live out in Heaven of encountering Christ face to face).

Hope this helps,
Ben

 

[stpurl]

But isn’t marriage something which does end?

“Till death do us part”.

Jesus spoke of the woman who had had 7 brothers (one after another) marry her, and then die, not as being ‘the wife’ of any of them for ‘in heaven they are like the angels, and neither marry nor are given in marriage).

Certainly marriage is a wonderful sacrament, and in heaven there will be a particular bond between those who were spouses on earth as having been husband and wife, and perhaps also parents of children who thus have ‘dad and mom”, but if marriage were to persist after death, we could never have a widow or widower remarry; they would be considered still in the sacramental marriage bond with their departed spouse. Right?

 

[CRM_Brother]

You are correct, there is no marriage or giving in marriage in Heaven. The key concept, however, is lost in the English translation. Marriage, in this gospel passage, is a verb not a noun. It speaks of the act of marrying, of being married, not the spiritual union forged with Christ in the sacrament.

We speak of ‘till death do us part’. Let’s use this as an analogy. Yes, at death, the physical presence of a spouse is gone. The spiritual impact that that deceased had upon that spouse, the spiritual impact that the sacrament of marriage had upon that spouse, forever remains. They have deepened in their understanding of love and thus, their understanding of Christ. This is why the death of a spouse does not invalidate their previous marriage. Instead, if someone dies and their spouse remarries, it is considered a valid second marriage, not a replacement of the first sacrament.

The grace imparted in the sacrament of marriage, the effect upon a person’s soul not only endures after death but is solidified. The marriage was an integral part of the spouse’s life with Christ. Why would God dismiss it. In this, it is only our human bonds in matrimony which pass away. Our bonds forged with God remain.

It is a little easier to see this concept of sacraments transcending death in the Anointing of the Sick. The Anointing grants great graces while a person is ill. Now, in death there is no illness. Does that mean that the sacrament and the graces attained through it are discarded? No. In the sacrament, the suffering person is united with Christ in His Passion. Through this experience, the soul is brought to Christ. That relationship and it’s journey is solidified in the beatific vision. Thus, the Anointing remains with their soul after death.

Ultimately, a sacrament is a physical enactment of a spiritual reality. The fact that the physical aspect passes away does not diminish the continued presence of that spiritual reality.

 

[AlbMagno]

If the Priest is still a Priest even in Hell, can he absolve persons in Hell?

 

[OrbisNonSufficit]

Probably not because absolution is not possible since repentance is not possible

Thanks to all for amazing replies. I think I understand this much better now.