Here is a cool article by the Rt. Rev'd Albert Chambers that I found on the Church of the Resurrection's (NYC, Fr. Barry Swain, SSC, rector) website. Chambers was once the rector of this parish. More important, he was one of the three bishops who consecrated the first four bishops of the "continuing church" in the mid-seventies.
The Sacramental Principle
by The Rt Rev’d Albert A. Chambers,
Bishop of Springfield 1962-1972
Rector of this Church 1949-1962
“That they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God on the day of visitation.”
Good works do not necessarily mean the moral and ethical lives we lead. One can never tell how far-reaching the influence is of our good deeds. We would not minimize it, or belittle it. But there is another kind of bearing witness and another kind of giving glory to God which is inherent in our worship.
William Earnest Hocking once wrote, “Symbols without explanations run to theological mummery; explanations without symbols run to philosophical dry bones.” If you have two hands, why use only one?
In the Book of Common Prayer, embodying the Catholic heritage of the Church, the sacramental principle is preserved. Outward and visible signs are the effective and divinely instituted means of bestowing inward and spiritual grace. That is what a Sacrament is. Yet to use the outward and visible thing without knowing its meaning is mummery; to neglect the outward and visible thing is to lose one’s self in philosophical “dry bones”. Having two hands, why use only one?
The sacramental principle is natural and reasonable. We who are within the Catholic tradition believe it to be necessary. The inner response to the outward and visible is essential. The outward and visible augments the inner response.
We can understand better the means of Grace instituted and commanded by Our Lord if we begin with ourselves. We can call this the sacramental principle on the human level. We do not believe this irreverent or sacrilegious if it helps us to understand the mystery of the sacramental life.
We begin simply by looking at man as he is. Man lives in two worlds at the same time: the material and the spiritual.
The material world is appreciated and apprehended through the five senses: hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, feeling with our bodies. It is a concrete world. It is made up of things. These things can be measured, described, compared. They are concrete. This world includes our bodies as well as so-called inanimate objets.
The spiritual world is invisible. It is appreciated and apprehended through the activity of the soul, the spirit, the mind. It is abstract. It cannot be measured, described, compared – though it can be demonstrated. In it are all the qualities of the spiritual life: love, goodness, kindness, truth, beauty, forgiveness, understanding, knowledge, joy, happiness, peace, and many other realities not describable. They are derived from God, who is the source and creator of them, even as he is the source and creator of all in the physical world.
The materialism of our present day may have its roots in the fact that the physical world is measurable and can be described precisely, as by the use of mathematics, whereas the spiritual world, eluding the senses, is incapable of measurement. One can buy a dozen eggs, or a bushel of apples, or weigh 160 pounds or be 5’10” in height. These are accurate descriptions. But one cannot say that he has a bushel 0f love, or a dozen of beauty, or that he is happier than someone else, or that he loves his wife more than someone else loves his wife. Yet which of the two worlds in which man lives is more important?
Without belittling the physical world (which would necessitate belittling our own bodies) we recognize the fact that the material, physical world is transitory and temporary, whereas the spiritual world is eternal. This we emphasize in order that we may have the proper perspective and may maintain the proper emphasis in our living.
Man’s life in these two worlds is fulfilled through the sacramental principle on a human level. That which is within must be expressed by that which is without. So we use the outward and visible as the means of communication. A thought in the mind or a feeling in the heart is expressed by the outward and visible. Life is lived day by day through the use of these outward signs.
Speech is a sacrament on the human level. It uses a physical apparatus to communicate the ideas or thoughts or feelings that are within and are invisible. The written word is a sacrament on the human level, because it, too, is a vehicle of communication – the means by which the unseen becomes visible. An embrace, a kiss, a handshake: these all partake of the sacramental character. Everything we do or say uses the outward and visible thing as the means of expressing that which is within.
There is a further observation. Not only do we express ourselves through the outward and visible, but we are also impressed by it. Speech, the written word, the embrace, make their impression upon us as we receive the communication intended for us. “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” A symphony, a landscape (to take the obvious) impresses us – “does something to us –for us” Thus we respond to people, their attractiveness, and the outward and visible manifestation of their characters.
The whole process of communication is thus in reality a simple one. This is the way we are created. It is a process so simple and natural that we accept it without thought. The physical world gives us the tools and instruments with which to express ourselves one to another, and by which we are impressed one by another.
Is it unnatural therefore to expect that God would use this natural process in his relationship to us, and that we should use it in our relationship to him? We should not be surprised, therefore, to find sacraments in his Church, instituted by him, commanded by him, to be a means of Grace, a means of communication by which we meet him, by which he expresses himself to us, by which we are impressed by him. And we should not be surprised to find these same sacraments a means through which we are privileged to express ourselves to him, and by which we strive to impress him with our response to his love for us, our worship and our devotion.
Because He is pure spirit and we are bidden to worship him in spirit and in truth, should we limit him to “spiritual mental telepathy” and reject the outward and visible means which he might use? This would seem to be unnatural and unintelligent, to say nothing of its being disobedient. He did command – “preach, baptize, teach”. He did say – “Do this in remembrance of me”.
We rejoice in the sacraments of God’s Church, because his sacraments are means by which he communicates his life and power to us. We rejoice because he lets his sacramental grace pour into our hearts to bring the miracle of rebirth and the remission of sin in Holy Baptism; the Heavenly food in the sacrament of the Altar, the living bread which comes down from Heaven; the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation; the blessing and sacramental grace in Holy Matrimony; the special gift of the Holy Spirit given in Holy Orders; the absolution and forgiveness of sins in Sacramental Confession; and the healing power of God in Holy Unction. He uses these means of communicating to man his love, his gifts, his resources. They are also a means by which man lifts heart in adoration and worship to the throne of Grace.
There is another fact, related to this principle, for which we in the Catholic tradition stand, and about which there is much ignorance. It is the use of outward and visible signs in our worship. Merely to illustrate, without attempting to give in any way an exhaustive list of them, we cite a few of the “externals” of our worship.
The use of incense in our worship has an ancient and noble history. Incense is the symbol of honor, or purification. It reminds us that our prayers are rising to the throne of Grace – “let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as the incense, and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice”. The use of incense comes to us from the Jewish Church where it was always part of their worship. It was because the early Christians would not burn incense – just a grain of it – to the Emperor that they were martyred. The use of incense is not meaningless. To burn it to the living God is to pay honor and tribute to him. Its use is abundantly justified.
The bodily acts of devotion common to our heritage are significant: the genuflection, for example – “at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, of things in Heaven and things in earth”. We bend the knee to honor his presence when we come into that Presence; we bend the knee to honor him as we approach to receive at the altar rail the Christ who gave himself for us. We stand to honor men of earth, we kneel to honor the King of Heaven.
Making the sign of the cross is also an outward and visible sign, reminding us that we were signed with the cross in Holy Baptism, and that we are not ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified. In the early Church the sign of the cross was a secret symbol by which Christians identified themselves to each other. We can thank God that today we can openly and joyfully sign ourselves with the cross in the name of the Blessed Trinity, thus reminding ourselves of God’s presence and bearing witness to our faith in him. There are many other bodily acts of devotion which assist us in our worship because they partake of the abiding principle of daily living, using outward acts to express inward realities.
In our worship of God we use many outward and visible signs. The vestments, the Altar Frontals, the stained glass windows, the beauty of Church architecture and decoration – these all have their rich heritage and meaning, and they all partake of the same principle – to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. They are means by which we express honor to him, by which we beautify his holy temple, by which we respond to his love. They all make their indelible impression upon us as they help to lift us to his Presence.
Call these “extra” aids to worship, but never forget their importance. They are simply means by which man can express himself in love and adoration to the God who created him, and by which he can pay him honor. They are means by which he can impress God of man’s response to his love. They also are instruments by which God expresses himself. These outward and visible instruments are made a means of communicating through which God expresses himself and impresses men.
These are good works. These are the things which we can behold. These are things and means by which we can glorify God. To deny them is to deny the means God has put at our disposal in order to deepen our life with him, to respond to his love, and to offer him worship.
