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THE SACRAMENTS |  |
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Baptism
One of the Seven Sacraments of the Christian Church; frequently called the "first sacrament", the "door of the sacraments", and the "door of the Church".
This sacrament is the door of the Church of Christ and the entrance into a new life. We are reborn from the state of slaves of sin into the freedom of the Sons of God. Baptism incorporates us with Christ's mystical body and makes us partakers of all the privileges flowing from the redemptive act of the Church's Divine Founder. We shall now outline the principal effects of baptism.
Every living human being, not yet baptized, is the subject of this sacrament.
Confession (The Sacrament of Penance)
Penance is a sacrament of the New Law instituted by Christ in which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism is granted through the priest's absolution to those who with true sorrow confess their sins and promise to satisfy for the same. It is called a "sacrament" not simply a function or ceremony, because it is an outward sign instituted by Christ to impart grace to the soul. As an outward sign it comprises the actions of the penitent in presenting himself to the priest and accusing himself of his sins, and the actions of the priest in pronouncing absolution and imposing satisfaction. This whole procedure is usually called, from one of its parts, "confession", and it is said to take place in the "tribunal of penance", because it is a judicial process in which the penitent is at once the accuser, the person accused, and the witness, while the priest pronounces judgment and sentence. The grace conferred is deliverance from the guilt of sin and, in the case of mortal sin, from its eternal punishment; hence also reconciliation with God, justification. Finally, the confession is made not in the secrecy of the penitent's heart nor to a layman as friend and advocate, nor to a representative of human authority, but to a duly ordained priest with requisite jurisdiction and with the "power of the keys", i.e., the power to forgive sins which Christ granted to His Church.
The Eucharist
The name given to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar its twofold aspect of sacrament and Sacrifice of Mass, and in which Jesus Christ is truly present under the bread and wine.
Since Christ is present under the appearances of bread and wine in a sacramental way, the Blessed Eucharist is unquestionably a sacrament of the Church. Indeed, in the Eucharist the definition of a sacrament as "an outward sign of an inward grace instituted by Christ" is verified.
Confirmation
A sacrament in which the Holy Ghost is given to those already baptized in order to make them strong and perfect Catholics and soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Confirmation can be conferred only on those who have already been baptized and have not yet been confirmed. As St. Thomas says:
Confirmation is to baptism what growth is to generation. Now it is clear that a man cannot advance to a perfect age unless he has first been born; in like manner, unless he has first been baptized he cannot receive the Sacrament of Confirmation (ST III:72:6).
Holy Matrimony
That Catholic marriage (i.e. marriage between baptized persons) is really a sacrament of the New Law in the strict sense of the word is for all Catholics an indubitable truth.
Holy Orders
Order is the appropriate disposition of things equal and unequal, by giving each its proper place (St. Aug., "De civ. Dei," XIX, xiii). Order primarily means a relation. It is used to designate that on which the relation is founded and thus generally means rank (St. Thom., "Suppl.", Q. xxxiv, a.2, ad 4um). In this sense it was applied to clergy and laity (St. Jer., "In Isaiam", XIX, 18; St. Greg. the Great, "Moral.", XXXII, xx). The meaning was restricted later to the hierarchy as a whole or to the various ranks of the clergy. Tertullian and some early writers had already used the word in that sense, but generally with a qualifying adjective (Tertullian, "De exhort. cast.", vii, ordo sacerdotalis, ordo ecclesiasticus; St. Greg. of Tours, "Vit. patr.", X, i, ordo clericorum). Order is used to signify not only the particular rank or general status of the clergy, but also the outward action by which they are raised to that status, and thus stands for ordination. It also indicates what differentiates laity from clergy or the various ranks of the clergy, and thus means spiritual power. The Sacrament of Order is the sacrament by which grace and spiritual power for the discharge of ecclesiastical offices are conferred.
Anointing
A sacrament of the New Law instituted by Christ to give spiritual aid and comfort and perfect spiritual health, including, if need be, the remission of sins, and also, conditionally, to restore bodily health, to Catholics who are seriously ill; it consists essentially in the unction by a priest of the body of the sick person, accompanied by a suitable form of words.
From The Catholic Encyclopedia/New Advent
Last updated: Mar 1, 2008
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