“The idea that the keeping of the
Lord’s Day could be listed among the sacramental signs of the church would seem
less novel to patristic theologians than it does to us, who are weighed down by
memories of the scholastic definition of the sacramental act. Augustine
explicitly identifies the keeping of
Easter as a sacramental observance (as distinct from keeping Christmas,
which is a mere commemoration), because in observing Easter we re-enact the
death and resurrection of Christ and represent our own delivery from death to
life. And that is why Easter must always be kept on a Sunday (Ep. 55.2, 16-23),
and why fasting on a Sunday gives such justified offence (Ep. 36.27-9).”
(Oliver O'Donovan, Desire of the Nations, p186)
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