Signs of the Church’s Holiness

The article discusses the unique divine and human nature of the Church which contains in itself a dimension that is both deeper and mysterious as well as external and institutional. Among the attributes of the Church – one, holy, universal and Apostolic – it seems that holiness best describes the complexity of the Church’s existence. The source of holiness is the Triune God Himself in whom all holiness has its origin. It was fully revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ. Still, the Chosen People already recognized the signs of holiness and – in so doing – signaled the future fulfillment of holiness. These signs were seen in images and figures expressed by Old and New Testament and are contemporarily attributed to the Church, especially in the texts of Vatican II. Among the dominant images and figures, the following are noteworthy: the human organism as the Body of Christ, the People of God, the Bride, the Temple, the Mystery – sacramentum. All these images and figures show that the Church reflects the holiness of its source from which it originates: God Himself. The realization of this holiness in the Church is seen in the word of God, in Sacramental life, in graces and charisms, in the universal call of all the faithful to holiness and in the realization of holiness in the life of the faithful as a form of witness to Jesus Christ and to the Communion of Saints.Publikacja współfinansowana z dotacji na utrzymanie potencjału badawczego Uniwersytetu Papieskiego Jana Pawła II w Krakowie przyznanej przez Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego na rok 2017