Augustine on visible words again: Verbs change in sound and visual sign when they are referring to the same event at different times; a future verb and a past verb refer to the same thing, but the sign changes. So too do sacraments: Christ’s future coming is announced by one set of signs, the fulfillment of that promise by another set ( quid mirum si aliis mysteriorum signaculis passio et resurrectio Christi futura promissa est, aliis iam facta annuntiatur ).
This implies that sacraments are changeable and temporal ( mutabilia et temporalia ), albeit they are sacrosancta . They are changeable and temporal not only because of the shift from Old to New, but because the actions of sacred rites are like the sounds of words – “they sound and pass away.”
I wonder: Did anyone before Augustine (or, before Christianity) suggest that the sacrosancta might be mutabilia et temporalia ?
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