The 7 Sacred Sacrements
Sacraments of Initiation:
Sacraments of Healing:
Sacraments of Service:
- Baptism - God's saving grace, His very presence, enters into the human soul through this sacrament. It also is salvation and the door to all other sacraments. Through baptism all sin is removed, even original sin.
- Eucharist - When you receive the real Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ in what appears to be bread and wine.
- Confirmation - The person is provided with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which helps the confirmed Catholic witness to Christ and lead a mature Christian life.
Sacraments of Healing:
- Reconciliation - It is also called 'confession' or 'penance,' a Catholic confesses his or her sins to a priest in the spirit of true repentance and receives forgiveness. The priest acts as a visible representative of Christ (In Persona Christi), who God allows to forgive sins.
- Anointing of the sick - This sacrament offers the comfort of God's grace to those who are ill. The sacrament provides spiritual and sometimes physical healing, according to God's will, but also allows the sick person to join his or her sufferings to Christ and prepare for death.
Sacraments of Service:
- Marriage - This joins a man and a woman together in a life-long covenant of self-giving love. The two spouses give their consent to join together in marriage as the Church defines it. God gives special grace to the couple that they may live out their vow.
- Holy orders - Some men are ordained as bishops, priests, and deacons through a bishop's laying on of hands and prayer. These men are given the grace to live out their lives in service to the Church and to God's people.