"The spiritual virtue of a sacrament is like light; although it passes among the impure, it is not polluted"
About this Quote
The intent is institutional and pastoral at once. By separating the holiness of the sacrament from the holiness of the minister, he protects ordinary believers from constant spiritual insecurity. If grace depended on the priest’s private virtue, the faithful would be trapped in an anxious detective story: Was my baptism real? Was that Eucharist counterfeit? Augustine’s light metaphor shuts that down. The sacrament’s efficacy comes from God, not from the officiant’s character.
The subtext is political in the best sense: it underwrites unity. A community that makes validity contingent on moral perfection becomes a splinter factory; suspicion becomes a sacrament of its own. Augustine’s line also carries a stern realism about human institutions. People are impure. Leaders fail. If the channel of grace can’t pass through compromised hands, it won’t reach anyone. By making the sacrament “unpollutable,” Augustine relocates holiness from personalities to a shared, durable practice - a theology built to outlast scandal, faction, and the messy churn of real life.
Quote Details
| Topic | Faith |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Augustine, Saint Aurelius. (n.d.). The spiritual virtue of a sacrament is like light; although it passes among the impure, it is not polluted. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-spiritual-virtue-of-a-sacrament-is-like-light-151345/
Chicago Style
Augustine, Saint Aurelius. "The spiritual virtue of a sacrament is like light; although it passes among the impure, it is not polluted." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-spiritual-virtue-of-a-sacrament-is-like-light-151345/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The spiritual virtue of a sacrament is like light; although it passes among the impure, it is not polluted." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-spiritual-virtue-of-a-sacrament-is-like-light-151345/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.



