the seven sacraments
“The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.”1
Baptism2
By which we are born to the divine life: made heirs of heaven
The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, includes:
• Forgiveness of original sin.
• Birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit.
• Incorporation into the Church, the Body of Christ, and participation in the priesthood of Christ.
• The imprint on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of the character Baptism cannot be repeated.
Confirmation3
By which the divine life is fostered and increased, to make us soldiers of Christ.
The fruits of Confirmation are:
• Perfects Baptismal grace.
• Gives the Holy Spirit to root us more deeply in the divine filiation.
• Incorporates us more firmly into Christ.
• Strengthens our bond with the Church and associates us more closely with her mission.
• Helps us bear witness to the Christian faith in words accompanied by deeds.
• Imprints, like Baptism, a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian’s soul; for this reason one can receive this sacrament only once in one’s life.
The Holy Eucharist4
By which the divine life is nurtured
The fruits of the Eucharist are:
• Increases the communicant’s union with the Lord.
• Forgives venial sins.
• Preserves him from grave sins.
• Strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ.
• Reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
The Holy Eucharist is really, truly and substantially the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, of Jesus Christ, under the appearances of bread and wine. The Holy Eucharist is not only a Sacrament; it is also a sacrifice—the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion each time they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year.
Reconciliation or Penance5
By which we recover the divine life lost by sin
The fruits of Penance are:
• Reconciliation with God: the penitent recovers grace;
• Reconciliation with the Church;
• Remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
• Remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
• Peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
• Increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.
Individual and integral confession of grave sins followed by absolution remains the only ordinary means of reconciliation with God and with the Church.
Anointing of the Sick6
By which the divine life is strengthened during grave illness or old age
The fruits of the Anointing of the Sick are:
• Uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church;
• Strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
• Forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
• Restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul;
• Preparation for passing over to eternal life.
Holy Orders7
By which the apostolic ministry is perpetuated: making possible the transmission of the divine life
The effects of the Holy Orders are:
• Gives the mission and faculty (“the sacred power”) to act in persona Christi;
• Configures to Christ as Priest, Teacher and Pastor;
• Imprints, like Baptism, an indelible character that cannot be repeated or conferred temporarily.
It is bishops who confer the sacrament of Holy Orders in the three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate. In the Latin Church the sacrament of Holy Orders for the presbyterate is normally conferred only on candidates who are ready to embrace celibacy freely and who publicly manifest their intention of staying celibate for the love of God’s kingdom and the service of men.
Matrimony8
By which human love of the spouses is perfected, leading them to the divine life
The fruits of Matrimony are:
• Union of Christ and the Church.
• Gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church;
• Perfects the human love of the spouses;
• Strengthens their indissoluble unity;
• Sanctifies them on the way to eternal life.
• Integrates the spouses into God’s covenant with man: “Authentic married love is caught up into divine love.’’
“The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Christ the Lord raised marriage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament.”
The marriage bond has been established by God himself in such a way that a marriage concluded and consummated between baptized persons can never be dissolved.