Day 8 – SACRAMENTS
Augustinian interiority is a necessity for the future in respect to liturgy and the sacraments. For Augustine sacraments are effective signs of God’s love. To participate in them we must enter by knowledge and love into spirit’s signifying activity. Knowledge of, and love for, what the sign intends is essential. Subjective, interior participation is essential. Being and self are never separated for Augustine. Knowledge of their union is the heart of Christianity for him. Of course the other side of this union is equally determinative for him. The sacraments are objectively effective. They signify a reality which works through them. The identity between God and humans achieved through the sacraments is not in the subjective acts of signifying, rather signifying has itself an objective presupposition. The sacraments are God’s loving means of union with us and properly effect loving union with Him and with the City of God.
augustinian heart 