As a pivotal figure in scholastic theology, Thomas Aquinas explains to us, through the Summa Theologica, what makes holy matrimony a sacrament. He defines a sacrament as something that causes grace – God being the efficient cause of that grace, and humans being the instruments. This sacramental grace takes away the effects of past sins to perfect. in the soul a form of worship in the view of the Christian tradition of religion. Therefore, the sacramental grace results in a healing of the soul in a way so that individuals may practice a deeper kind of love in marriage.
Thomas Aquinas describes the three essential dimensions of marriage as the following: the sign (sacramentum tantum), the reality (res et sacramentum), and the reality’s interactions with the goods of marriage (res tantum). The consent of the marriage, given by both individuals at the beginning of the sacrament’s celebration, acts as the sign in matrimony. Introduced to us by Augustine, the unbreakable bond established between the couple, then, becomes to reality of the matrimony. In this sense, the sign, in addition with the reality, forms the sacrament (“Sign + Reality = Sacrament”). The reality, itself, interacts with the two natural and spiritual institutions that are the goods of marriage: fidelity and offspring. Augustine first introduced us to the idea that these were two goods of marriage, alongside the insoluble bond between spouses. Thomas Aquinas contrarily suggests that the sacrament in and of itself (the previously mentioned unbreakable bond between husband and wife) cannot be considered a good, as it, alone, embodies the entire purpose of marriage (hence it is considered to be the reality of this sacrament, according to Aquinas). However, he does expand on the idea of fidelity and offspring as goods being essential to the third dimension of the sacrament of marriage. These goods become spiritual when they are consecrated to a higher end; the unity between man and woman in marriage becomes the love between Christ and the Church through the sacrament of holy matrimony. This new dimension of love proves to be something that isn’t necessarily of the couple’s own power or doing – rather, it is a result of the sacrament creating and causing grace within a bond that is permanent and indivisible, in the likeness of Christ’s relationship and marriage to the Church.
Maria Corr Blog 
I appreciated your comments on the sacrament being made up of both the sign and the reality and tying this into fidelity and offspring. I think these two goods are important to Aquinas’ understanding of marriage and are vital to a successful marriage that is seen as good in the eyes of the Church. However, I also think an important part of marriage that isn’t labeled as a distinct good is the importance of ‘caritas’ or the love between the couple that bestows grace. This caritas is the gift of Christ that is received through marriage and the eternal consent and love that was given, so I’m just curious how you think that would be tied in with the goods of marriage. I think it falls more so under the first dimension of the sign as that includes consent and that bond between the couple, but I fell that it also is important to the other dimensions.
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I think a part of the sacrementum tantum that needs to be expanded on in your blog post is that consent is continuous. You said that consent is given at the beginning of the sacrament. Thomas says that consent is integral for the sacrament of marriage and part of this is the fact that consent happens throughout the marriage. Thomas was the first theologian of the time to say consent was more important to marriage than sex is. For this to be true, consent cannot be a one time thing that happens during the ceremony. It has to keep happening.
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I think this is a good summary of Thomas Aquinas’s three essential dimensions of marriage. You clearly explained the differences between the three dimensions and each part of the marriage that exemplifies each dimension. I also think you did a good job explaining Aquinas’s thought process of the bond of marriage not being a good of the marriage because it is the purpose of marriage itself and instead expands upon the importance of fidelity and procreation.
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This is a great summary of Aquinas’ writing. I especially like how you connected the idea of the goods of marriage (fidelity and offspring) that we learned in our Augustine readings to Aquinas’ third essential dimension. Additionally, you could have expanded on how the love of a couple in marriage becomes the same love that is between Christ and the Church. In consent, he act of freely giving and sacrificing oneself to another in the consent of marriage, a spouse mirrors the salvific act of Christ taking up the cross for man. Thus, Christ’s act of love acts in unison with the marriage and conforms the couple to the love of Christ.
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