SACRAMENTS
The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the sacraments. (CCC 1113)
While we believe that human life is infused with the sacramental goodness of God, the Catholic Church has defined seven sacraments - instituted by and through the life of Jesus Christ. It is through the experience of the sacramental ritual that we are infused with God's grace. The Sacraments nourish and strengthen us as they express and build up our faith.
Sacraments of Initiation
BAPTISMThrough Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as children of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission.
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CONFIRMATIONBy the Sacrament of Confirmation, the baptized are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit and are, therefore, as true witnesses of Christ, challenged to spread and defend their Catholic faith by word and deed.
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HOLY COMMUNIONThe Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian Life. The other sacraments, indeed, all the ministries and apostolic works of the Church, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely, Christ Himself.
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Sacraments of Healing
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RECONCILIATION |
ANOINTING OF THE SICK |
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Reconciliation, also often referred to as Confession and Penance, is the sacrament in which Christ forgives sins and reconciles Christians to God and their fellow human being.
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The Anointing of the Sick has as its purpose the conferral of a special grace on the Christian experiencing difficulties and are associated with serious illness or advanced age. Any baptized Catholic who has sufficient use of reason to be strengthened by this Sacrament and who is suffering from a serious illness, is facing serious surgery, or whose health is impaired by advanced age may receive the Anointing of the Sick.
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Sacraments of Vocation
HOLY MATRIMONYThe Sacrament of Matrimony, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, gives the couple the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church.
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HOLY ORDERSAll members of the Church participate in the priesthood of all believers through Baptism. However, some men are called to serve Jesus and the Church today through the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Through their leadership in the Church, they help continue Jesus’ presence on earth in the tradition of the apostles.
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