By F. D. Joret, O.P.

“If thou knewest what it is God gives…” Christ’s words to the Samaritan woman ought to strike to the heart of every Christian. This gift is God himself and his grace poured out for the salvation of our soul; its giver is Christ himself, the very son of God. Yet does he not say, “My grace is sufficient for you”? Then why the Church? Why the sacraments? Because, as F. D. Joret explains, Christ is the founder of the Church and also the author of the sacraments, establishing them as the normal means of conveying his grace. Of these, the sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance are principal: the one bestowing communion with the divine life of God and igniting the fervor of charity in us; the other washing away our iniquity and cleansing us of our sin. Unfailingly available, these sacraments are the font of living water “which flows continually to bring us everlasting life.”

You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour’s fountains. (Isaiah 12:3)

First published in English in 1955, The Eucharist and the Confessional offers clear and refreshing instruction on the workings of grace in these two vitally important sacraments, with lessons from St. Thomas Aquinas, the lives of the saints, and Sacred Scripture. “This is Christianity,” Joret declares: “To cleave to our Lord in order to live by him.” The sacraments bring this about—which is to say, holy communions and honest confessions cleave us to Christ. 

Ferdinand Donatien Joret, O.P. (1883–1937) was a French Dominican priest and theologian. Widely published in France, his writings included books on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Order of Preachers; contemplation and mysticism; and Christology and ecclesiology. Of these works, two were translated into English: Dominican Life, in 1937, and The Eucharist and the Confessional, in 1955.

Paperback: 254pp.

ISBN: 978-1685954192