Gods Grace
"God lavishes His graces in loving and limitless ways all day, everyday. Those graces fall like gentle rain from the sky, giving growth and goodness to all it touches. But occasionally, God pours out those graces in buckets, and Catholics call those divine downpours "sacraments," such as Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, Confession, Matrimony, Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick. The sacraments don't just touch our lives, they transform us, and make us more like our Master and Saviour, Jesus Christ. If you're wandering through the desert of dryness and doubt and feel distant from the Lord, draw near the oasis of the Church, and come and soak in the sacraments."
Fr. John Antony
Sacrament of Baptism
The first of the seven sacraments, and the "door" which gives access to the other sacraments. Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification. Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist constitute the "sacraments of initiation" by which a believer receives the remission of original and personal sin, begins a new life in Christ and the Holy Spirit, and is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ. The rite of Baptism consists in immersing the candidate in water, or pouring water on the head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 867
Sacrament of Penance
Penance is the liturgical celebration of God’s forgiveness of the sins of the penitent, who is thus reconciled with God and with the Church. The acts of the penitent—contrition, the confession of sins, and satisfaction or reparation—together with the prayer of absolution by the priest, constitute the essential elements of the Sacrament of Penance.
Reconciliation is the sacramental celebration in which, through God’s mercy and forgiveness, the sinner is reconciled with God and also with the Church, Christ’s Body, which is wounded by sin.
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, pages 892 and 896
Holy Communion is the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist and, more generally, our fellowship and union with Jesus and other baptized Christians in the Church, which has its source and summit in the celebration of the Eucharist. In this sense, Church as communion is the deepest vocation of the Church.
Eucharist is the ritual, sacramental action of thanksgiving to God which constitutes the principle Christian liturgical celebration of and communion in the paschal mystery of Christ. The liturgical action called the Eucharist is also traditionally know as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is on of the seven sacraments of the Church; the Holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. The Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life.
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, pages 871 and 877
Sacrament of Confirmation
Confirmation is one of the ensemble of the Sacraments of Initiation into the Church, together with Baptism and Eucharist. Confirmation completes the grace of Baptism by a special outpouring of the gifts of the Holy spirit, which seal or “confirm” the baptized in union with Christ and equip them for active participation in the worship and apostolic life of the Church.
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 872
Marriage is a covenant or partnership of life between a man and woman, which is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children. When validly contracted between two baptized people, marriage is a sacrament.
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 887
Anointing of the Sick is one of the seven sacraments, also known as the “sacrament of the dying,” administered by a priest to a baptized person who begins to be in danger of death because of illness or old age, through prayer and the anointing of the body with the oil of the sick. The proper effects of the sacrament include a special grace of healing and comfort to the Christian who is suffering the infirmities of serious illness or old age, and the forgiving of the person’s sins.
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 866
Holy Orders is the Sacrament of Apostolic Ministry by which the mission entrusted by Christ to his Apostles continues to be exercised in the Church through the laying on of hands. This sacrament has three distinct degrees or “orders”: deacon, priest, and bishop. All three confer a permanent sacramental character.
from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 890
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