CCC 1584

Christian MysterySECTION TWO THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCHCHAPTER THREE THE SACRAMENTS AT THE SERVICE OF COMMUNIONVII. The Effects of the Sacrament of Holy Orders
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Since it is ultimately Christ who acts and effects salvation through the ordained minister, the unworthiness of the latter does not prevent Christ from acting. St. Augustine states this forcefully: As for the proud minister, he is to be ranked with the devil. Christ's gift is not thereby profaned: what flows through him keeps its purity, and what passes through him remains dear and reaches the fertile earth.... the spiritual power of the sacrament is indeed comparable to light: those to be enlightened receive it in its purity, and if it should pass through defiled beings, it is not itself defiled. The grace of the Holy Spirit

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