Ex opere operato
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Ex opere operato is a Latin theological expression meaning literally "from the work having been worked" and with the specific meaning "by the very fact of the action's being performed." It refers to the idea that the sacraments work from the mere fact of having been administered, rather than from the status of the minister of the Sacrament, that is, they actually confer grace when the sacramental sign is validly confected, not as the result of the holiness of the minister or the recipient, but by the power and promise of God.
According to the Roman Catholic Church, to receive the fruits of the sacraments requires one to be properly disposed. This means reception of grace via the sacraments is not automatic. There must be, at least in the case of an adult, a predisposed receptivity to receive the grace which is always available in a validly confected sacrament. On the other hand, when the recipient is properly disposed (and the sacrament is validly confected), he receives the grace of the sacrament effectually even if the person who confects it is not holy and even unrepentant. This principle gives a certitude to the availability of grace through the sacraments; otherwise, e.g. a person who was baptized might worry that his baptism was not valid because the priest himself was not holy. This principle holds that the effect of the sacrament is a result, not of the holiness of its human minister, but rather of its divine Author, Christ himself. The reason that the minister of the sacrament is able to validly confect a sacrament, even though he may not be in the state of grace, is that he acts "in persona Christi", that is, in the person of Christ, when confecting any sacrament. Although such a sacrament would be valid, however, it is nonetheless a grave sin for any priest to confect a sacrament while himself in a state of sin.
The nature of the principle that sacraments operate ex opere operato affirms that while a proper disposition is a necessary condition to receiving grace in those sacraments, it is not the cause of the grace. What God offers in the sacraments, Catholics argue, is purely a free gift. A person's own dispositions, as good as they may be, cannot produce God's supernatural life in that person.
The principle that the sacraments operate ex opere operato should be distinguished from the principle governing sacramentals, namely that they operate ex opere operantis Ecclesiae (literally: "from the deed of the working of the Church") as well as "ex opere operantis" (literally: "from the deed of the doer"). With regard to sacramentals, it is the teaching of the Church that their efficacy is derived from the prayer and works of the Church as well as the dispositions of the one making use of the sacramental itself. Sacramentals do not infuse sanctifying grace but do dispose the soul to receive that grace and remit venial sins when piously employed. The teaching on the efficacy and operation of sacramentals is bound up with the belief in the holiness of the Church, as articulated in the Creed.
The principle of ex opere operato also exists in various other Christian denominations, notably in the Anglican tradition. Article XXVI of the Thirty-nine Articles (Of the unworthiness of ministers which hinders not the effect of the Sacrament) states that the "ministration of the Word and Sacraments" is not done in the name of the one performing the sacerdotal function, "neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness," since the sacraments have their effect "because of Christ's intention and promise, although they be ministered by evil men."
