Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Sacraments in General · Book II: On the Effect, Number, and Ceremonies of the Sacraments
Chapter 21: The same proved from the Fathers
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. III, De Sacramentis in Genere, Book II: On the Effect, Number, and Ceremonies of the Sacraments. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
Dionysius the Areopagite, in the book On the ecclesiastical hierarchy chapter 2 part 1, says that Baptism forms a man to receive the other Sacraments. That formation we call a character. The same, part 3, of him who is baptized thus speaks: “This man,” he says, “the divine Majesty admits within into fellowship with itself, and delivers to him its light as a certain sign.” Cyril of Jerusalem, in the preface of the Catecheses, describing Baptism by its effects, calls it regeneration, the remission of sins, a holy and indelible seal. Likewise catechesis 4: “The Holy Spirit,” he says, “at the time of Baptism seals thy soul”; and catechesis 16: “He, to this very day, seals souls in Baptism.” See also catechesis 17. Basil oration 13, which is an exhortation to Baptism: “God,” he says, “gives tokens to those who war under him,” etc. And below: “How will the Angel claim thee for his own, how snatch thee from the enemies, if he do not recognize the seal?” And below: “An unsealed treasure is easily plundered by thieves; an unmarked sheep is attacked by ambushes without peril”; and below, defining Baptism by its effects, he calls it an inviolable seal. Gregory Nazianzen, oration On holy Baptism, with a like phrase says that Baptism is a seal by which the faithful are preserved, and by which as by a sign we are known to be the possession of God. Chrysostom homily 2 on the epistle to the Ephesians: “Moreover the same,” he says, “has marked us with the character of the Holy Spirit.” And below: “The Israelites too were signed, but with the mark of Circumcision, like cattle; but we are signed as sons, with the Holy Spirit.” And homily 14 he says that we are signed as the Lord's flock. Epiphanius heresy 8, which is that of the Epicureans, after he had said that Circumcision was a carnal cutting off, and a carnal seal, subjoins of Baptism: “It circumcises us from sins, and seals us unto the name of God”; and heresy 30 he calls Baptism the seal of Christ. Ambrose book 1 On the Holy Spirit chapter 6: “We are signed by the Spirit,” he says, “that we may be able to hold his splendor and image and grace; which is assuredly a spiritual seal.” Likewise On those who are initiated into the mysteries chapter 7: “Remember,” he says, “that thou hast received a spiritual seal.” Augustine book 6 On Baptism chapter 1 says that this was approved in a general Council: “It sufficiently shone forth to the Pastors of the Catholic Church diffused through the whole world, by whom afterward, by the authority of a plenary Council, the original custom was confirmed, that the sheep which wandered outside, and had received the Lord's character outside from its deceitful plunderers, when coming to the salvation of Christian unity should be corrected from error, freed from captivity, healed from its wound, yet that the Lord's character in it should be acknowledged rather than disapproved.” See the same epistles 23, 50, and 240, tracts 3 and 6 on John, book 2 against the epistle of Parmenian chapter 13, book 2 against the letters of Petilian last chapter, book 1 against Cresconius chapter 30, tract 5 on the epistle of John. See like things in Theodoret on chapters 1 and 2 to the Corinthians, Haymo, Primasius, Anselm, Theophylact, Oecumenius, on chapters 1 and 4 to the Ephesians, Damascene book 4 On the faith chapter 10.
To these places it could only be answered that by the Fathers is called a character, or seal, not that which we say, but the external symbol. For Augustine in the sermon On the acts with Emeritus says three things which seem greatly to favor this solution. First he says that the character is known outwardly, and, being known, is approved. Second he says that if Donatus baptized in the name of Donatus, he would fix the character of Donatus. But certainly there can be no character of Donatus fixed in the soul. Third he says that the character is the very invocation of the Trinity which is made in Baptism: “I attend,” he says, “to the faith in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; this is the character of my Emperor; concerning this character he commanded his soldiers, or rather his companions, that they should imprint it on those whom they gathered to his camp, saying: Go, baptize the nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
I answer that the character, in Augustine and the other Fathers, cannot be the external symbol or Sacrament. For, first, the Fathers say that this seal is in the soul, not in the body, as Cyril; or that it is spiritual, as Ambrose; or they oppose it to the cautery of Circumcision, which was in the body, as Epiphanius and Chrysostom; or finally that it is a certain consecration, as Augustine book 2 against the epistle of Parmenian chapter 13. And certainly the soul is properly consecrated, not the body, according to that of Tertullian in the book On the resurrection of the flesh: “The flesh is anointed, that the soul may be consecrated.” Second, they say that it adheres and remains, which does not agree with the external symbol, which did not remain except while it was being done. Augustine book 2 against the epistle of Parmenian chapter 13: “The Christian Sacraments,” he says, “adhere no less than a corporeal mark, since we see that not even apostates lack them; which for that reason, when they repent, are not restored to them, because they could not be lost.” And the same have the other Fathers, who say it is an indelible seal, as Cyril, Nazianzen, and others. To this also pertain the expressions of Augustine adduced in the places cited, where he says the character is fixed, imprinted, borne, and other things which cannot square with a transient action. Third, if the external symbol were called by the Fathers a character or seal, all the Sacraments would imprint a character; for all are external symbols sealing the promise, as they say. Why, then, did none of the Fathers ever say that a character is imprinted through the Eucharist?
But to the places of Augustine objected against us, I answer that the character can be seen and known outwardly, not in itself, but in its cause. For when we know that someone is duly baptized, we at the same time know that a character is fixed in him, because this is the effect which always and necessarily follows that cause. And that this is enough is plain; for we do not see even the external act after it has passed; wherefore Augustine could not rightly say of the external symbol either that it is seen and acknowledged when those who had been baptized by heretics come to the Church. To that concerning the character of Donatus I say that Augustine speaks from a hypothesis, not absolutely; for he means to say, if Donatus could confer the Sacraments in his own name, he would imprint his own character. Otherwise Augustine was not ignorant that Baptism conferred in the name of Donatus not only does not imprint a character on the soul, but is not even an external Sacrament. To the last I say that the invocation of the Trinity, and the whole external symbol itself, can be called a character — not the imprinted, but the imprinting. For as the same image is in the seal and in the wax, but the image of the seal is the imprinting character, in the wax it is the imprinted character, so the external Sacrament, and chiefly the form of the Sacrament, is the imprinting character, since at its conferring the character in the soul straightway follows, and follows from the force and impression of the Sacrament.
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CAPUT XXI. Idem probatur ex Patribus. Dionysius Areopagita lib. de Eccles. hie- rarch. cap. 2, part. 1. dicit Baptismum for¬ mare hominem ad alia suscipienda Sacra¬ menta. Illam formationem vocamus nos cha¬ racterem. Idem par. 3. de eo qui baptizatur, ita loquitur : « Hunc, inquit, divina Majes¬ tas in sui consortium intus admittit, eique (1) Eph. I, 13 et 14. — (2) Eph. IV, 30. — (3) II. Tim. IV, 18. — (4) Isai. LXVI, 18 et 19. - (5) Ezech. IX, 4. 474 LIBER II. lucem suam perinde ac signum aliquod tra¬ dit. » Cyrillus Hierosolymitanus in praefatione Catecheseon, describens Baptismum per ef¬ fectus ejus, vocat regenerationem, remissio¬ nem peccatorum, signaculum sanctum et in¬ delebile. Item catechesi 4 : « Spiritus sanc¬ tus, inquit, tempore Baptismi animam tuam obsignat; » et catechesi 16 : «Hic, inquit, ad hodiernam usque diem obsignat animas in Baptismo. » Vide etiam catcchesim 17. Basilius orat. 13. quae est exhortatio ad Baptismum : «Deus, inquit, sub se militan¬ tibus dat tesseras cte. » Et infra : « Quomo¬ do vendicabit te Angelus sibi, quomodo eri¬ piet ex hostibus , si non agnoverit signacu¬ lum? » Et infra: «Thesaurus non obsignatus facile diripitur a furibus : ovis non signata citra periculum insidiis appetitur ; » et in¬ fra definiens Baptismum per suos effectus, vocat signaculum inviolabile. Gregorius Nazianzenus orat, in sanctum lavacrum, simili phrasi dicit Baptismum es¬ se sigillum, quo conservantur fideles, et quo tamquam signo cognoscimur esse Dei pos¬ sessio. Chrysostomus homil. 2. in ep. ad Ephes.: « Porro idem , inquit , charactere Spiritus sancti nos insignivit. » Et infra : « Signati sunt etiam Israelitae, sed Circumcisionis no¬ ta, ut pecora; nos autem ut lilii signati su¬ mus Spiritu sancto. » Et homil. 14. nos dicit esse signatos, ut gregem Dominicum. Epiphanius hair. 8. quae est Epicureorum postquam dixerat Circumcisionem fuisse carnalem abscissionem, et carnale signacu- ' lum, subjungit de Baptismo : « Circumcidit nos a peccatis, et obsignat in nomen Dei, » et haeresi 30. vocat Baptismum signaculum Christi. Ambrosius lib. I. de Spiritu sancto, c. G : « Spiritu, inquit, signamur, ut splendorem, atque imaginem ejus, et gratiam tenere poski- mus : quod est utique spirituale signaculum.» Item de iis, qui-initiantur mysteriis, cap. 7: « Repete, inquit, quia accepisti signaculum spirituale. » Augustinus lib. VI. de Baptismo, cap. 1. dicit in generali Concilio hoc approbatum : « Satis, inquit, eluxit Pastoribus Ecclesiae Catholicae toto orbe diffusae, per quos postea plenarii Concilii auctoritate, originalis con¬ suetudo firmata est, et ovem, quae foris er¬ rabat, et Dominicum characterem a fallaci¬ bus depraedatoribus suis foris acceperat, venientem ad Christianae unitatis salutem ab errore corrigi, a captivitate liberari, a vul¬ nere sanari, characterem tamen Dominicum in ea agnosci potius, quam improbari.» Vi¬ de euindem epist. 23, 50 et 240, tract. 3 et G. in Joan. lib. II. contra epist. Parmen. c. 13, lib. II. contra litteras Petiliani, cap. ult. lib. I. contra Cresconium, cap. 30, tract. 5. in epist. Joan. Similia vide apud Theodo- retum in cap. I, II. adCorinth. Havmonem, Primasium, Anselmum, Theophylactum, OEcumenium, in I et IV. ad Ephes. Damas¬ cenum lib. IV. de fide, cap. 10. Ad haec loca solum responderi posset, a Patribus non vocari characterem , seu sig¬ naculum id, quod nos dicimus , sed exter¬ num symbolum. Nam Augustinus in serm. de gestis cum Emerito tria dicit, quae viden¬ tur valde favere huic solutioni. Primo dicit, exterius characterem cognosci , et agnitum approbari. Secundo dicit , quod si Donatus in nomine Donati baptizaretur, Donati cha¬ racterem infigeret. At certe Doanti charac¬ ter in anima infixus nullus esse potest. Ter¬ tio dicit, characterem esse ipsam invocatio¬ nem Trinitatis, quae fit in Baptismo : « At¬ tendo, inquit, fidem in nomine Patris, et Fi¬ lii, et Spiritus sancti : Iste est character Im¬ peratoris mei : de isto charactere militibus suis, vel potius comitibus suis, ut hunc im¬ primerent eis , quos congregabant castris ejus, praecepit, dicens: Ite, baptizate gentes in nomine Patris, et Filii , et Spiritus sanc¬ ti. » Respondeo , characterem apud Augusti¬ num, et alios Patres, non posse esse exter¬ num symbolum, seu Sacramentum. Nam pri¬ mo Patres dicunt , hoc signaculum esse in anima, non in corpore, ut Cyrillus; vel esso spirituale, ut Ambrosius, vel opponunt cau¬ terio Circumcisionis, quod erat in corporo, ut Epiphanius, et Chrysostomus ; vel deni¬ que esse quamdam consecralionem , ut Au¬ gustinus lib. II. contra Epist. Parmenian. cap. 13. Et certe anima consecratur proprie, non corpus, juxta illud Tertulliani lib. de resurrectione carnis : « Caro inungitur, ut anima consecretur. » Secundo dicunt , hae¬ rere, et manere, quod non convenit symbo¬ lo externo, quod non mansit, nisi dum fie¬ ret. Augustinus lib. II. contra epistol. Par- meniani cap. 13 : « Non minus, inquit, hae¬ rent Sacramenta Christiana, quam nota cor¬ poralis, cum videamus nec apostatas carere illis, quae propterea illis resipiscentibus noq restituuntur, quia amitti non potuerunt. » Idemque habent alii Patres, qui dicunt esse sigillum indelebile, ut Cyrillus, Nazianzenus, et alii. Quo etiam spectant allatae Augustini locutiones locis citatis, ubi dicit characte¬ rem infigi, imprimi, portari , et alia , quae non possunt quadrare in actionem transeun¬ tem. Tertio, si symbolum externum dicere¬ tur a Patribus character , vel signaculum, omnia Sacramenta imprimerent characte¬ rem : omnia enim sunt externa symbola ob¬ signantia promissionem, ut ipsi dicunt. Cur ergo nullus unquam Patrum per Eucharis¬ tiam dixit imprimi characterem? Ad loca autem Augustini contra allata; Respondeo , characterem posse exterius vi¬ deri, et cognosci, non in se, sed in sua cau¬ sa. Cum enim cognoscimus aliquem ritebap- tizatum, simul cognoscimus illi infixum cha¬ racterem, quia hic est effectus, qui semper, et necessario sequitur illam causam. Et quod hoc satis sit, patet; nam etiam actum exter¬ num non videmus, postquam transiit : qua¬ re nec de externo symbolo Augustinus recte dicere potuisset , illud videri , et agnosci, quando veniunt ad Ecclesiam , qui fuerant ab haereticis baptizati. Ad illud de charactere Donati dico , Au¬ gustinum loqui ex hypothesi, non absolute : vultenim dicere, si Donatus in nominesuopos- set Sacramenta conferre, characterem suum .imprimeret. Alioqui non ignorabat Augusti¬ nus, Baptismum in nomine Donati collatum non modo non imprimere characterem in anima, sed neque esse Sacramentum exter¬ num. Ad ultimum dico , invocationem Trinita¬ tis, et ipsum totum externum symbolum di¬ ci posse characterem ,. non impressum , sed imprimentem. Ut enim eadem imago est in sigillo, et in cera, sed imago sigilli est cha¬ racter imprimens, in cera est character im¬ pressus : ita Sacramentum externum , ac praecipue forma Sacramenti est character imprimens, cum ad ejus collationem mox sequatur character in anima, et ex vi, et im¬ pressione Sacramenti sequatur. \