The Sacraments and the History of Salvation By Rev. Jean Danielou, S.J.

There are, of course, many aspects under which we may consider the relations between the Bible and the liturgy. irst of all, as we saw in the previous chapter, there is the fact of the importance given to Biblical te!ts in the ceremonies of the liturgy" in particular, the first part of the #ass is a liturgy of the $ord, the essential content of which is the reading of te!ts from the %ld and &ew Testaments. But the liturgy is at once word and action, logos 'ai ergon" and the Bible is at once a boo' and a history. (t is this second aspect that we are now going to consider ) the relationship of the actions that ma'e up sacred history in the %ld and &ew Testaments to the actions that are the sacraments of the *hurch. $e should, first of all, recall the fact that liturgical tradition continually establishes analogies between sacramental actions and the wor's of +od in the %ld and &ew Testaments. ,et us ta'e some e!amples from baptism and the -ucharist, sacraments which the athers continually relate to the essential events of the Bible. (n the space available here, it is, of course, impossible to go into the details of this teaching which fills the sacramental catecheses and the liturgical te!ts" ( can only indicate the great themes../0 (n connection with baptism, let us ta'e the blessing of the water given in our present ritual1 % +od, as Thy Spirit hovered over the waters at the very beginning of the world, so that even then by their very nature they might have the power of sanctification. . . . % +od, as Thou didst wash away by water the crimes of the guilty world, and so by the flood didst give us an image of the new birth" for it was the same element that signified the destruction of sin and the beginning of virtue . . . . ( bless you, % water, creature of +od, by the living +od, who caused you to flow from the fountain of paradise and commanded you to flow out in four rivers and water the whole earth" who changed you in the desert to a water fit to drin' and caused you to flow from the roc' to 2uench the people3s thirst . . . . ( bless you through Jesus *hrist, who in the wonderful miracle at *ana changed you by His power into wine . . ." who was bapti4ed in you by John at the Jordan" who caused you to flow from His side together with His blood. . . . ,et us go over these analogies. The first is that of the primordial waters sanctified by the Spirit. 5s the Spirit of +od, hovering over these waters, raised up the first creation, so the same Spirit, hovering over the baptismal waters, raises up the new creation, effects our rebirth. The Spirit of +od is the creative Spirit. *hrist3s word refers to this aspect1 67nless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the 'ingdom 8John 91:;. 6$hy are you immersed in water<6 St. 5mbrose as's the neophyte. 6$e read1 ,et the waters bring forth living things 8+en. /1=>;. 5nd things were born. This too' place at the beginning of creation. But it was reserved to our own times that water should give you a new birth by grace.6.=0

Here we can begin to see the dimension that is given to baptism by this analogy. Baptism is of the same order as the creation of the world, and this because to create is an action properly divine. (t is the same Spirit who raised up the first creation and who will raise up the new creation. The Spirit descended on the waters of the Jordan, thence to bring forth the new creation which is that of the #an?+od. 5nd baptism is the continuation of this creative wor' in the era of the *hurch. The very conte!t of springtime, in which baptism is administered, e!presses this analogy. Spring is the yearly anniversary of the first creation and of the new creation as well. (mmediately after spea'ing of creation, the prayer of consecration alludes to the flood ) a new act of +od3s power and a new symbol of water. The relationship between the flood and baptism goes bac' to the first -pistle of @eter, in which baptism is called the antitype of the flood. %ptatus of #ilan writes in the fifth century1 6The flood was a figure of baptism because the whole universe, soiled by the tide of sin, by the intervention of water was restored to its pristine purity.6.90 $ater is the instrument of +od3s Audgment" it is water that destroys the sinful world. Baptism is a mystery of death. (t means the destruction of the ancient man, as the flood meant the destruction of the ancient world, so that a new creature may appear, washed clean and renewed by the baptismal water. The essential point here is the symbolism of water. ,actantius writes1 6$ater is the figure of death6".B0 and 5mbrose1 6(n the water is the image of death.6.:0 @er ,undberg has brought out the importance of this theme of the waters of death, which seems strange to us until we remember the te!t of St. @aul showing us that baptism is at once death with *hrist and resurrection with Him. The prayer of consecration brings out the contrast between water as creative and destructive, between the creation and the flood1 6(t was the same element that signified the destruction of sin and the beginning of virtue.6 Thus the te!t of St. @aul refers to the baptismal rite" this is seen to be a putting to death by immersion in water and a new birth by arising from water. $e rediscover the true symbolism of the rite by referring to the realities of the %ld Testament. But we have by no means e!hausted the Biblical analogies of baptism. The prayer of consecration goes on to spea' of the rivers of paradise. Here we enter a whole new field. (n the commentaries of the athers no theme recurs more fre2uently than that of the analogy between 5dam and the catechumen. 5dam, after he had sinned, was driven out of paradise. *hrist promised the good thief that he would be with Him in paradise. Baptism is the return to paradise, which is the *hurch. rom the beginning, preparation for baptism was seen as the antitype of the temptation in the garden of -den. St. *yril of Jerusalem calls the baptismal renunciation of Satan the brea'ing of the pact which, since the fall, binds man to the devil. Baptism, as we all 'now, is the destruction of original sin, But the image is not that of the stain that the water washes away" it is the dramatic contrast between our e!clusion from paradise and our return to paradise. This theme of baptism as a return to paradise.C0 is as essential to the liturgy as is the paschal theme. *hrist is the new 5dam, the first to re?enter paradise" and by baptism the

catechumen enters also, for the *hurch is paradise. De Bruyne and other scholars have shown how the symbolism of the ancient baptistries is concerned with paradise, its tree of life; its four rivers. *yprian writes1 6The *hurch, li'e paradise, contains within its walls trees loaded with fruit. These trees are watered by four rivers, by which she dispenses the grace of baptism.6.D0 5nd -phraem adds1 6(t is here that each day the fruit is gathered that gives life to all.6.E0 &o theme is more ancient in the *hurch than this" it is to be found in the %des of Solomon, in the -pistle to Diognetus" @apias got it from apostolic centers. The prayer of consecration then alludes to the roc' in the desert. $e have come now to the cycle of -!odus" and first we have to consider a theme not mentioned in the prayer of consecration, but in the -!saltet. This is one of the most important of all1 that of the crossing of the Red Sea. The first -pistle to the *orinthians sees here a figure of baptism. This figure has recently been the subAect of a lengthy study by #artelet..F0 ( shall do no more than 2uote one of the most ancient patristic witnesses, Tertullian1 6$hen the people, leaving -gypt without hindrance, escaped from the power of @haraoh by passing across the water, the water destroyed the 'ing and all his army. $hat clearer figure of baptism could we give< The nations are freed from the world" they are freed by water" they leave the devil, who once tyranni4ed over them, annihilated in the water.6./>0 Here again we must be careful not to stop at the images but to discover the theological analogy. Tertullian points it out to us. $hat is the essence of the great wor' that +od accomplished at the crossing of the Red Sea< The people were in a desperate situation, in imminent danger of destruction. By the power of +od alone, a path was opened up through the sea, the people passed through and came to the further shore, there to sing the hymn of the redeemed. This was not a wor' of creation, nor a wor' of Audgment, nor a wor' of sanctification" it was a wor' of redemption, in the etymological sense of the word. (t was +od who delivered the people, and He alone. &ow the catechumen is in an analogous situation Aust before he is bapti4ed. He is still under the domination of the prince of this world and so given up to death. Then, by an act of the power of +od alone, the water of the baptismal pool opens and he passes through. 5nd when he has arrived at the other side, he also sings the canticle of the redeemed. (n both cases we are in the presence of a divine act of salvation. 5nd between the deliverance of the Red Sea and the deliverance of baptism, here again intervenes the deliverance of *hrist, who made Himself the prisoner of death and who, on this same paschal night, by the power of +od, bro'e the iron bolts and the bron4e loc's of death3s prison and arose to become the firstborn from the dead. The figure of the roc' from which living water gushed forth introduces us to a new and e2ually essential perspective. St. @aul ma'es this also a figure of baptism1 6%ur fathers, .all dran' the same spiritual drin' 8for they dran' from the spiritual roc' which followed them, but the roc' was *hrist;.6.//0 (n the %ld Testament the outpouring of living water, united with the effusion of the Spirit, is a promise for the end of time, and the te!ts of -4echiel and (saias referring to this are part of our present liturgy of baptism. &ow it is very probable, as ,ampe has shown./=0 that the baptism of St. John referred to this prophecy, for he also connected water and the Spirit. His baptism signified the fact that the eschatological times of the outpouring of the Spirit had now come. 85nd we 'now how dear

was this theme to the community at Gumran.; But John bapti4ed only in water. (t is *hrist who gives water and the Spirit. *hrist said this same thing of Himself1 6(f anyone thirst, let him come to #e and drin'. He who believes in #e, as the Scripture says, 3 rom within him shall flow rivers of living water.3 He said this, however, of the Spirit whom they who believed in Him were to receive" for the Spirit had not yet been given6 8John D19D?9F;. $e may, with *ullmann, discover an announcement of baptism in the te!ts of John concerning living water, that of the Samaritan woman in particular../90 5nd certainly we must, with him and with the whole of tradition, recogni4e in the water and blood flowing from the side of *hrist the image of water united with the Spirit, for the blood is the figure of the Spirit. 5nd so *hrist crucified is the eschatological Roc' from whose pure side flows the water that refreshes us for everlasting life, the baptism that gives the Spirit. $e should notice in this connection that the gift of the Spirit is essentially connected with the outpouring of water. (n the third century we find a tendency to distinguish the rite of water, which purifies, from another rite, the anointing or imposition of hands, which gives the Spirit. +regory Di! ma'es use of these te!ts to distinguish within *hristian initiation a sacrament of the Spirit, distinct from baptism, which would be confirmation. But this is contrary to primitive tradition and to tradition as a whole. (t is the water, and it alone, that gives the Holy Spirit. The accompanying rites are illustrative only. *onfirmation is a different sacrament, connected with spiritual growth and with participation in the ministry. The Biblical themes that we have been considering up to this point have been concerned with water. But, once again, this is not the essence of their relationship with baptism. (n a theme such as that of the return to paradise the mention of water is secondary" the emphasis is much more on the restoration of 5dam to the realm of grace for which +od had destined him from the beginning and to which baptism restores him. #oreover, in this theme of paradise the -ucharist appears as well as baptism, and both are closely associated. (n the same way, the roc' of living water is related to the -ucharist and to baptism as well. (t is the theological analogy that is essential in every case. This appears also in the other Biblical themes which tradition relates to baptism and the -ucharist. or e!ample, let us ta'e that of the covenant. +regory &a4ian4en writes plainly1 6$e must call the grace of baptism a covenant, diathe'e.6./B0 The covenant is the act by which +od promises, in an irrevocable way, to establish communion of life between man and Himself. *hrist reali4es the new and eternal covenant by uniting in Himself for ever the divine nature and a human nature in such a way that they will never be separated. $e should not forget the fact that 6the *ovenant6 was one of our ,ord3s names in primitive *hristianity, following the te!t of (saias1 6( have made you1 *ovenant of the peoples.6 Baptism is our introduction into this covenant. Baptism establishes it by the pledge of +od and that of man. $hen baptism was given in an interrogative form, this pledging formed part of the very form of baptism, which was given in faith and in water, as Justin says. ,ater on this aspect was connected with the pre?baptismal profession of faith1 6Hou also, you catechumens,6 writes John *hrysostom, 6should learn to 'now the meaning of this

word1 ( renounce Satan. or this word in fact is the covenant 8synthe'e; with the ,ord.6./:0 This pledge is called symbalon, 6pact,6 and it is from here that the term came to be applied to the profession of faith preceding baptism. John *hrysostom emphasi4es the unconditional and irrevocable character of this engagement of +od3s1 6+od does not say1 (f this, or, (f otherwise. Such were the words of #oses when he poured out the blood of the covenant. 5nd +od promises eternal life.6./C0 $e should ta'e note of the allusion to the blood of the covenant poured out by #oses. The %ld *ovenant was sanctioned by a sacrament, by the sprin'ling of the same blood on the people and on the altar, signifying and bringing about a communion of life. (t is certainly in reference to this gesture of #oses3 that *hrist, when He too' the wine and blessed it, declared1 6This is #y Blood, the Blood of the &ew *ovenant,6 before giving it to His disciples, a sign of the communion of life brought about between them and Himself. The -ucharist is truly the new rite which succeeds the %ld *ovenant and which at once witnesses to and brings about the covenant made by *hrist with man'ind in His incarnation and His passion. Here again we can see the irreplaceable value of the Biblical analogy. (t enables us to see the full significance of -ucharistic communion as participation in the life of +od, the participation that man'ind has irrevocably gained in *hrist Himself and that is now offered to each man. (t connects the -ucharist with Scripture by showing us that the -ucharist continues, in the era of the *hurch, the divine actions which too' place in both Testaments. (t illuminates the symbolism of .the sacramental rites by showing us the parta'ing of the Blood as being the supreme e!pression of communion of life, for blood is the e!pression of life itself. 5nd again, as the covenant is our bond with +od, it is also our incorporation into the people of +od. (n the %ld *ovenant, this incorporation was e!pressed by circumcision. *ullmann, Sahlin, and many others have shown the connection of circumcision with baptism and the valuable elements which this connection brings to the theology of baptism../D0 6The baptism of the *hristian was e!pressed in the circumcision of the Hebrews,6 writes %ptatus of #ilevis../E0 But the -pistle to the -phesians had already brought out the parallelism1 $herefore bear in mind that once you, the +entiles in flesh, who are called 3uncircumcision3 by the so?called 3circumcision3 in flesh made by human hand)bear in mind that you were at that time without *hrist, e!cluded as aliens from the community of (srael and strangers to the covenants of the promise.... But now in *hrist Jesus you, who were once afar off, have been brought near through the blood of *hrist 8-ph. =1//?/9;. (t is baptism itself that is the new rite of incorporation into the people of +od in the *hurch. But, as other aspects of the sacrament are e!pressed by particular ceremonies, such as the clothing with a white garment and the anointing, so with this one. The e!pression of our incorporation into the people of +od by baptism is the ceremony of the sphragis, the sign of the *ross mar'ed on the forehead of the candidate.

-4echiel had prophesied that the members of the eschatological community would wear on their foreheads the mar' of the taw, the sign signifying Hahweh, the &ame of Hahweh. (t seems probable that the Sadocites of Damas actually bore this mar'. 5nd the 5pocalypse of St. John shows us the elect as mar'ed with the &ame of Hahweh, that is; with the taw. (t is very li'ely that this was the sign with which *hristians were mar'ed originally as the sign of their incorporation into the eschatological community. &ow this sign is in the form of a cross. This is why, in the +ree' communities which no longer understood the meaning of the Hebrew letter, it was interpreted as being the sign of the *ross of *hrist. But Hermas still says1 6Those who are mar'ed with the &ame.6./F0 This leads us to another theme a'in to that of the covenant, that of the dwelling, the She'inah. Hahweh had caused His &ame to dwell among His own. This is the mystery of the Tabernacle. This @resence abandoned the people of the %ld *ovenant when the veil of the temple was rent. Henceforth its dwelling?place is the humanity of *hrist, in whom the &ame has set up its tabernacle. 5nd this dwelling?place is in our midst in the -ucharist. $e have already seen the -ucharist as communion, covenant. &ow we see it as presence, She'inah. 5s the -ucharistic prayer of the Didache e!presses it1 6$e give Thee than's, % ather, for Thy holy &ame which Thou hast caused to dwell in our hearts6 8I, =;. Here the &ame is the $ord, as @eterson has pointed out. But the e!pression 6the &ame6 is the older and the more fitting. or in the %ld Testament it is the &ame and not the $ord which is connected with the dwelling. 5s for the last great aspect of the -ucharist, sacrifice, which is at once adoration, than'sgiving and e!piation, the liturgy of the #ass itself invites us to see' its prefiguring in the sacrifice of 5bel, in that of 5braham, and in that of #elchisedech. Here again, the prophets had proclaimed that at the end of time the perfect sacrifice would be offered by the obedient Servant, the new (saac, and the true ,amb. (t is this priestly act, by which all glory is forever rendered to the Blessed Trinity, which the -ucharistic sacrifice ma'es perpetually present in all times and all places. Thus we have brought out the traditional teaching. The sacraments are conceived in relation to the acts of +od in the %ld Testament and the &ew. +od acts in the world" His actions are the mirabilia, the deeds that are His alone. +od creates, Audges, ma'es a covenant, is present, ma'es holy, delivers. These same acts are carried out in the different phases of the history of salvation. There is, then, a fundamental analogy between these actions. The sacraments are simply the continuation in the era of the *hurch of +od3s acts in the %ld Testament and the &ew. This is the proper significance of the relationship between the Bible and the liturgy. The Bible is a sacred history" the liturgy is a sacred history. The Bible is a witness given to real events" it is a sacred history. There is a profane history, which is that of civili4ations, witnessing to the great deeds done by men. But the Bible is the history of divine actions" it witnesses to the great deeds carried out by +od. (t is all for the glory of +od. 5nd so it is the proper obAect of faith. or 6to believe6 does not mean only to believe that +od e!ists, but also that He intervenes in human life. aith is wholly concerned with these interventions of +od1 the covenant, the incarnation, the resurrection, the diffusion of the Spirit. 5nd the %ld Testament in particular is already essentially a sacred history.

This point needs to be emphasi4ed today. or in Bultmann and his disciples we find a tendency to see in the %ld Testament, and in Scripture in general, only a word that +od addresses to us here and now. 7nder the prete!t that the divine events are presented in a styli4ed form, their very historicity is 2uestioned. Demythi4ation has become dehistori4ation. But *ullmann and -ichrodt.=>0)the latter precisely in connection with the problem that concerns us here, that of typology)have brought out the primacy of the event over the word, of the ergon over the logos. The obAect of faith is the e!istence of a divine plan. (t is the obAective reality of the divine interventions which modifies ontologically the human situation, and to the reality of which faith causes us to adhere. This history is properly the history of the wor's of +od which are grasped only by faith. (t does not consist in reconstituting the historical and archeological conte!t of the people of (srael or of the primitive *hurch. This is a part of the history of civili4ations and is of a different order. Sacred history reaches, beyond the order of bodies and minds, what @ascal calls the 6order of charity6)which term meant to him, good 5ugustinian that he was, the supernatural order. (t is concerned, therefore, with the supernatural history of man'ind, the most important history ultimately, since it is concerned with the final 2uestions of the destiny of man and of man'ind, the very depths of human nature. Thus the %ld Testament has as its purpose to recall to us the great deeds that +od did for His people. But this represents only one aspect. (t includes the ,aw, but it includes also the prophets. @rophecy is part of its very substance. $e must give this word its true meaning" it is not merely prediction, not merely proclamation. @rophecy is the announcement of the fact that at the end of time +od will accomplish wor's still greater than in the past. Here the movement of the %ld Testament is 2uite different from that of natural religions. These are essentially, as -liade and van den ,eeuw have shown, the effort to defend primordial energies against the destructive action of time. (t is with the Bible that time ac2uires a positive content as being the setting in which the design of +od is being carried out. But this orientation toward the future is an act of faith, founded on the promises of +od. The great Biblical figure 5braham is 2uite different from the +ree' hero 7lysses. The title of Homer3s poem is &ostoi, 6the returns.6 The outstanding characteristic of 7lysses is nostalgia, and finally after his long Aourneying, he returns to the place from which he set out. Time destroys itself. But 5braham leaves 7r of the *haldees for ever and sets out on a Aourney to the land that +od is to give him. or the man of the Bible, paradise, the state of innocence are not the point of departure" they are the end of the Aourney. Such a man cannot help having an eschatological attitude. But, wonderful to say, these hoped?for future events are not unrelated to the events of the past. The promises of +od remain unchanged. +od said to (saias 8B91/C?=F;1 6Remember no more what is past" behold, ( will ma'e a new wonder. ( will ma'e a path through the sea.6 %ne of the deeds of the past was the crossing of the Red Sea, the act of deliverance by which Hahweh delivered His people from their hopeless condition. The eschatological event will be a new -!odus, a new deliverance, a new redemption. 5nd so we begin to see

what is the real basis of typology)as +oppelt and -ichrodt have pointed out)the analogy between the divine deeds carried out in the different epochs of the history of salvation. @rophecy announces to us eschatological events. The &ew Testament is the parado!ical affirmation that these events have ta'en place in Jesus *hrist. $e have lost sight of the importance of the e!pression that continually recurs in the &ew Testament1 6so that the prophecies might be fulfilled,6 and this is because we have lost the understanding of what prophecy really is. (t is because prophecy announces the end of time)and not some one event to come)and because *hrist is the end of time that *hrist fulfills prophecy. $hat is essential, then, is the fact that *hrist is proclaimed to us as being the end of time. This is the meaning of John3s gesture1 -cce 5gnus Dei. &ot1 There is a ,amb of +od. But1 The ,amb of +od is here. $e should remember here that the phrase, 6the end of time,6 is to be ta'en in its full meaning1 not only the end in the sense of the conclusion of time, but also in the sense of the goal of time, the definite and decisive event, that beyond which there is nothing more because there can be nothing beyond it. The parado!ical *hristian affirmation is, as *ullmann has well shown, that the decisive event is already accomplished. &o discovery, no revolution can ever bring about anything as important to man'ind as is the resurrection of Jesus *hrist. 5nd, in fact, in the resurrection of *hrist two things were accomplished beyond which nothing further is possible1 +od is perfectly glorified" man is perfectly united to +od. $e can never go beyond Jesus *hrist. He is the final goal of +od3s design. But did sacred history stop with Jesus *hrist< This is, indeed, what we usually seem to say. 5nd this is because we do not place the sacraments in the perspective of sacred history. $e forget that, although Jesus *hrist is the goal of sacred history, His coming into the world is only the inauguration of His mysteries. (n the 5postles3 *reed, after the mysteries of the past, we spea' of a mystery still to come1 unde venturus est" but between the two there is a mystery of the present1 sedet ad de!teram @atris. or *hrist3s enthronement at the right hand of the ather is only the definitive installation of the incarnate $ord, who at His ascension entered into the heavenly Tabernacle, in His functions as Jing and @riest. The glorious humanity of *hrist, during the whole era of the *hurch, causes every grace, every illumination, every sanctification, every blessing. 5nd these divine wor's carried out by *hrist in glory are, above all, the wor's of the sacraments. These constitute the deeds properly divine being carried out in the heart of our world, the deeds by which +od accomplishes our sanctification and builds up the Body of *hrist. (t is in their radiance that all holiness, all virtue, all ministry is developed. Thus the nature of the sacraments is made clear to us in the perspective of the history of salvation. They are the divine acts corresponding to this particular era in the history of salvation, the era of the *hurch. These divine acts are the continuation of the acts of +od in the %ld and &ew Testaments, as *ullmann has already shown..=/0 or the ways in which +od acts are always the same1 He creates, Audges, saves, ma'es a covenant, is present. But these acts have a different modality in each era of the history of salvation.

$hat characteri4es the era of the *hurch is, on the one hand, the fact that it comes after the essential event of sacred history, the event by which creation has attained its purpose in such a way that nothing can be added to it. The sacramental acts are, therefore, only saving actuali4ations of the passion and resurrection of *hrist. Baptism plunges us into His death and resurrection. The #ass is not another sacrifice, but the uni2ue sacrifice made present in the sacrament" in this sense it is true that the sacraments add nothing to *hrist and that they are only the sacramental imitation of what has already been effectively accomplished in Him. %n the other hand, the era of the *hurch is that in which what has already been accomplished in *hrist, the Head, is communicated to all men, who form the Body. The era of the *hurch is the time of the mission, the growth of the *hurch, and the sacraments are the instruments of this growth, incorporating into *hrist His new members. 5s +regory of &yssa says1 6*hrist builds Himself up by means of those who continually Aoin themselves to the faith6 by baptism..==0 5nd #ethodius of %lympia shows us how the sacramental life is the continual espousal of *hrist and the *hurch..=90 $e can understand why *yril of Jerusalem made the *anticle of *anticles the sacramental te!t par e!cellence..=B0 But the last characteristic of the era of the *hurch is that the transformation carried out by *hrist actually reaches man'ind, but it is not yet made manifest1 6Hou are now the sons of +od, but it has not yet appeared what you shall be6 8( John 91=;. Thus the sacraments have a hidden aspect. They are a veil as well as a reality. Jesu, 2uem velatum nunc aspicio . . . ut te revelata cernens facie .... 5nd this shows us one more aspect of the sacraments in the history of salvation. They are not the final stage. 5fter the mysteries of the past, there are the mysteries of the future. @refigured by the realities of the %ld Testament and the &ew, the sacraments are themselves prefigurations of eternal life. Baptism anticipates the Judgment" the -ucharist is the eschatological ban2uet already made present in mystery. 5nd so the sacraments recapitulate the whole history of salvation1 Recolitur memoria passionis, mens impletur gratia, et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur. Thus, we see the sacraments as being the acts of +od in the era of the *hurch. 5s we have said, +od3s ways of acting are always the same. This is what finally defines the right of the *hurch to bring out the analogies between the sacraments and the divine events recorded in Scripture. (t is here that we find the ultimate basis of what we e!plained in the first section of this chapter. The universe of the liturgy is a marvelous symphony in which appear the harmonies between the different eras of the history of salvation, in which we pass from the %ld Testament to the sacraments, from eschatology to spirituality, from the &ew Testament to eschatology, in virtue of these fundamental analogies. Jnowledge of these correspondences is the *hristian wisdom as the athers understood it, the spiritual understanding of Scripture. 5nd this is where the liturgy is the mistress of e!egesis. To conclude. %ne of the greatest difficulties for many minds is to understand the connection between Scripture and the *hurch. They hold to Scripture, but they do not see the need for the *hurch. (t is of the utmost importance that such people be shown the strict continuity between Scripture and the *hurch. 5nd it is precisely this continuity that appears at the clima! of the history of salvation. (t is here that the realities spo'en of by Scripture and the realities that constitute the *hurch appear as being various stages of one wor'. 5nd,

furthermore, by employing a uni2ue language, which is that used by the $ord of +od, and by causing us to discover the Scriptural categories in the sacraments, the continual reference to Scripture found in the e!planation of the sacraments manifests the fact that they belong to the same universe. Thus Bible and liturgy illuminate one another. The Bible both authori4es and clarifies the liturgy. (t authori4es it by the authority of the prophets and the figures of which it is the fulfillment, and by thus placing it in the whole pattern of +od3s plan. (t illuminates it by giving us the forms of e!pression by which we can understand the authentic meaning of the rites. (n its turn, the liturgy illuminates the Bible. (t gives us its authentic interpretation by showing us how it is a witness to the mirabilia Dei. 5nd, much more, as these acts are continued in the sacraments, they actuali4e the $ord of +od by authori4ing us to apply it to the present acts of +od in the *hurch in virtue of the analogy between these acts in the different phases of history. -&D&%T-S / ( have given a survey of this teaching in my boo', Bible and ,iturgy 8&otre Dame 7niversity @ress, /F:C;. = De Sacramentis, (((, 9. 9 Donat. K, /" @,, //, />B/. B Div. (nst. ((, />" @,, C, 9// a. : Sp. Sanct. (, C, DC" @,, /C, D==d. C See 6*atechese pascale et retour au @aradis,6 ,a #aison?Dieu, B: 8/F:C;, pp. FF?/=>. D -pist. ,I(((, />. E Hymn. @ar. K(, F. F 6Sacrements, figures et e!hortation en / *or. />1/?//,6 R.S.R., BB 8/F:C;, pp. 9=9?9:F" :/:?:C>. /> Bapt. F. // *or. />1B. /= The Seal of the Spirit, pp. =D?=E. /9 ,es sacrements dans l3-vangile Aohanni2ue,6 pp. :/?::. /B %r. Bapt., E.

/: *at., =" @+ BF, =9F. /C *o. *ol., =, C" @+ C=, 9B=. /D See 6*irconcision et bapteme,6 Theologie in +eschichte und +egenwart 8#el. Schmaus;, pp. D::?DDD. /E Donat., K, /" @+ //, />B:a. /F See ,a Theologie du 0udeo?christianisme 8Desclee et *ie., /F:E;, pp. 9EB?9EC. => $. -ichrodt, 6(st die typologische -!egese sachgemasse -!egese<,6 Theol. ,iteratur4eittung, E/ 8/F:C;, pp. CB/?C:9. =/ ,es sacrements dans l3-vangile Aohanni2ue,6 p. E:. == @+, /9FDc. =9 *onv., (((, E. =B See Bible and ,iturgy 8&otre Dame 7niversity @ress, /F:C;. The ,iturgy and the $ord of +od @ages1 =/?9= @ublisher L Date1 The ,iturgical @ress, /F:F