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''Ex opere operato'' is a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
phrase meaning "from the work performed" and, in reference to
sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the rea ...
s, signifies that they derive their
efficacy Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as ''effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a distinction is now often made between ...
, not from the minister or recipient (which would mean that they derive it ''ex opere operantis'', meaning "from the agent's activity"), but from the sacrament considered independently of the merits of the minister or the recipient. According to the ''ex opere operato'' interpretation of the sacraments, any positive effect comes not from their worthiness or faith but from the sacrament as an instrument of
God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
. "Affirming the ''ex opere operato'' efficacy means being sure of God's sovereign and gratuitous intervention in the sacraments." For example, in
confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
the
Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
is bestowed not through the attitude of the
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
and of the person being confirmed but freely by God through the instrumentality of the sacrament. In order to receive sacraments fruitfully, it is believed necessary for the recipient to have
faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people ofte ...
.


Antiquity

In
Antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
, the idea led to a
schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
among the Donatist Christians. The Donatists held that "one of the three
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
s who had consecrated
Caecilian Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics o ...
was a
traditor Traditor, plural: ''traditores'' (Latin), is a term meaning "the one(s) who had handed over" and defined by Merriam-Webster as "one of the Christians giving up to the officers of the law the Scriptures, the sacred vessels, or the names of their br ...
", and therefore Caecilian's consecration was invalid. Furthermore, they held "that the validity of such an act depended on the worthiness of the bishop performing it" and Caecilian and his followers "responded that the validity of the sacraments and of other such acts cannot be made to depend on the worthiness of the one administering them, for in that case all Christians would be in constant doubt regarding the validity of their own baptism or of the Communion of which they had partaken."


In the Roman Catholic Church

According to the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, to receive the fruits of the sacraments requires that a person be properly disposed. This means the
efficacy Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as ''effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a distinction is now often made between ...
of
grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninc ...
via the sacraments is not automatic. There must be, at least in the case of an adult, an openness to use the sufficient grace which is available in a
sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the rea ...
. When the recipient is properly disposed, "the sacraments are instrumental causes of grace."


Sacramentals

The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the
sacramentals A sacramental in Christianity is a material object or action (in Latin ''sacramentalia'') ritually blessed by a priest to signal its association with the sacraments and so to incite reverence during acts of worship. They are recognised by the Cat ...
is that their efficacy comes ''ex opere operantis Ecclesiae'' (i.e., from what the doer, the Church, does), not ''ex opere operato'' (from what is done): i.e., as the Second Vatican Council said, "they signify effects, particularly of a spiritual kind, which are obtained through the Church's intercession". They "do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the church's prayer they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it". Sacramentals dispose the soul to receive grace and may remit venial sins when used prayerfully.


In the Anglican Communion

In the
Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
, the principle of ''ex opere operato'' is made conditional upon worthy reception. Article XXVI of the
Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
(''Of the unworthiness of ministers which hinders not the effect of the Sacrament'') states that the ministration of the Word (scripture) and sacraments is not done in the name of the priest or minister and that the efficacy of Christ's sacraments is not taken away, nor God’s grace diminished by the sinfulness of clergy. This is because sacraments have their efficacy due to Christ’s promise to his church.


See also

*
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
*
List of Latin phrases __NOTOC__ This is a list of Wikipedia articles of Latin phrases and their translation into English. ''To view all phrases on a single, lengthy document, see: List of Latin phrases (full)'' The list also is divided alphabetically into twenty pag ...
*
Conditional sacrament A conditional sacrament or sacrament ''sub conditione'' ("under condition") is in some Christian denominations a sacrament administered "on the condition that the faithful eceiving it isable and legitimately entitled to receive the sacrament". An ...


References


Further reading

* {{Cite journal , last=Weltin , first=E. G. , date=1960-07-01 , title=The Concept of Ex-Opere-Operato : Efficacy in the Fathers as an Evidence of Magic in Early Christianity , url=https://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/view/12291 , journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies , language=en , volume=3 , issue=2/3 , pages=74–100 , issn=2159-3159 Latin religious words and phrases Catholic theology and doctrine Anglican sacraments