Kunjumon, Lijan (2024) Res et Sacramentum: An Ontological Understanding of the Sign and Reality in Sacraments and Its Relevance. PhD thesis, St. Patrick’s Pontifical University Maynooth Ireland.
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Abstract
This research is based on identifying the structure of the sacramental economy as
communicative. God communicates and the believer responds, with a response which
involves a personal effort and a free will. This response, in turn, becomes the basis of the
communicative process involved in a sacrament. Yet, in order to enter into this dialogue,
one certainly needs to know the language of the sacrament, a language which goes
beyond the verbal to involve signs and symbols, along with verbal expressions or the
Word of Faith, as well as bodily language or the gestures. These sacramental rituals or
celebrations are actions which are transformed into symbolic actions. The Catechism of
the Catholic Church teaches that these symbolic actions are already a language which is
accompanied by the Word of God and the response of faith in order to give life to the
faithful.
Therefore, this research is in relation to the communicative dimension of the sacraments
that produce fruits or brings in the ultimate reality, the grace in a believer’s life. This
thesis, by revisiting the history of sacramental theology, seeks a new perspective on the
fruitfulness of the sacraments. This is done by exploring the communicative aspects of the
three dimensions of the sacraments as conceived by the medieval sacramental theology:
i) the sacramentum tantum: the ritual, ii) the res et sacramentum: The first effect of the
sacrament, which is both sign and reality and iii) the res tantum: the grace or the ultimate
reality conferred by the sacrament.
The three aspects of the sacraments do have a major role in establishing a communication
between the individual participating in the sacrament and the Creator. Thus, a greater
exploration of these aspects is imperative to understand the efficacy of the sacraments and
experiencing their fruits in one’s life. This thesis aims to establish how this dynamics
function and develop in the sacramental world, especially examining from an historical
and theological point of view the role of the middle aspect, res et sacramentum and the
dialogical reality it forms bringing in the fruitfulness of the sacrament.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
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Keywords: | Res et Sacramentum; Ontological Understanding; Sign and Reality; Sacraments; Relevance; |
Academic Unit: | St Patrick's College, Maynooth > Faculty of Theology |
Item ID: | 19924 |
Depositing User: | IR eTheses |
Date Deposited: | 30 May 2025 09:57 |
URI: | https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/19924 |
Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
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