SACRAMENTS

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all. First Letter of St. Paul to Timothy 2: 5

A sacrament is an outward efficacious sign instituted by Christ to give grace. Jesus Christ Himself is the sacrament, as He gave His life to save humankind. His humanity is the outward sign or the instrument of His Divinity. It is through His humanity that the life of the Trinity comes to us as grace through the sacraments. It is Jesus Christ alone who mediates the sacraments to allow grace to flow to humankind.

Christ sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to inspire His Apostles and His Church to shepherd His flock after His Ascension into heaven. ‘As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you’ (John 17: 18, 20: 21). Jesus is the Head of His Body the Church (Colossians 1: 18). The Church itself is a sacrament instituted by Christ to give grace. Jesus gave us His Body the Church to continue the works He performed during His earthly life. Grace given to us through the sacraments will help us lead a good life in this world and help save us for the Kingdom of Heaven.

The sacraments were instituted by Christ and were part of the Liturgical Tradition of the early Christian Church. The Church celebrates in her liturgy the Paschal mystery of Christ, His Sacrifice on the Cross, Death and Resurrection. The Greek word mystērion or mystery in the Greek New Testament is translated into sacramentum in the Latin Vulgate Bible, from which we derive our English word sacrament (examples: Ephesians 1: 9, Ephesians 3: 9; Colossians 1: 27). The saving effects of Christ’s Redemption on the Cross are communicated through the sacraments, especially in the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist. The sacraments to this day are called mysteries in the Eastern Churches.

The Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, as well as Eastern Orthodox Churches all recognise the seven sacraments of Baptism, Penance, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders and the Anointing of the Sick. The three sacraments of Christian Initiation are Baptism, The Eucharist and Confirmation. The two sacraments of Healing are Penance and the Anointing of the Sick, and the two sacraments of Service or Vocation are Matrimony and Holy Orders. Three sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, are given once, as they render a permanent seal or character upon one’s soul (2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 4:30; Revelation 7: 3).

The Gospel according to St. Mark 5: 25-34 describes a woman afflicted with hemorrhage who touched the cloak of Jesus and was immediately healed. There is a fourth century fresco painting in the catacomb of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter depicting this event, which serves as an apt symbol of a Sacrament—the power that flows out from the body of Jesus, in order to effect both remission of sin and new life in Christ. The fresco image frames Part II of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the Liturgy and the Sacraments, The Celebration of the Christian Mystery. St. Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa Theologica, has written the standard exposition on the Seven Sacraments.

Each sacrament consists of a visible external rite, which is composed of matter and form, the matter being the action, such as the pouring of water in baptism, and the form being the words spoken by the minister. Each sacramental rite confers a special ecclesial effect and sacramental grace appropriate for each sacrament. The sacraments occur at pivotal events and give meaning to a person’s life.

The sacraments act ex opereoperato, by the very fact of the action being performed, independent of the minister. The effect on the person receiving the sacrament is called ex opereoperantis, and depends on the interior disposition of the receiver.

Grace is a favour, the free and undeserved gift from God through Christ Jesus, to help us respond to His call to become children of God, to become partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life. Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is a participation in the life of God and is necessary for salvation.

This page will include a brief introduction and some Scriptural sources for each Sacrament.

And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. The Gospel according to St. John 1: 14

They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by His blood, to prove His righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of God—to prove His righteousness in the present time, that He might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus. Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 3: 24-26

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before Him. In love, He destined us for adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favour of His will, for the praise of the glory of His grace, that, He granted us in the beloved. In Him, we have redemption by His blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of His grace that He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, He has made known to us the mystery of His will in accord with His favour that He set forth in Him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth. Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians 1: 3-10