Articles

Signified but Not Contained: The (Limited) Power of the Sacraments in the Thought of Albert the Great

Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, OP

Abstract

Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, OP, analyzes Albert the Great’s novel sacramental category of res significata et non contenta in light of concerns about the nature of sacramental healing. Surmanski argues that Albert’s category illuminates the way in which sacraments more often than not change and transform their recipients gradually rather than instantaneously.