The Seven Sacraments
**********
As Catholics we believe the seven sacraments were instituted by Christ as part of His new Church and passed down to us this very day. Christ created each sacrament as a way to be closer to Him and to be in unity with His heart. The sacraments show us how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The seven sacraments are:
1. Baptism - Baptism is the sacrament that gives our souls the new life of sanctifying grace by which we become children of God and heirs of heaven.
2. Eucharist - The Holy Eucharist is a sacrament and a sacrifice. In the Holy Eucharist, under the appearances of bread and wine, the Lord Christ is contained, offered, and received.
3. Confirmation - Confirmation is the sacrament through which the Holy Spirit comes to us in a special way and enables us to profess our faith as strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.
4. Penance - Penance is the sacrament by which sins committed after Baptism are forgiven through the absolution of the priest.
5. Anointing of the Sick – Anointing of the sick is the sacrament which, through the anointing with blessed oil by the priest, and through his prayer, gives health and strength to the soul and sometimes to the body when we are in danger of death from sickness, accident, or old age.
6. Holy Orders - Holy Orders is the sacrament through which men receive the power and grace to perform the sacred duties of bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church.
7. Matrimony - Matrimony is the sacrament by which a baptized man and a baptized woman bind themselves for life in a lawful marriage and receive the grace to discharge their duties.
|
