- This article is an expansion of a section titled
Sacraments
within the article:
Catholic Church
.
- "The Seven Sacraments" redirects here - for the paintings by Poussin, see
Seven Sacraments (Poussin)
; for the play see
The Seven Sacraments of Nicolas Poussin
; for the painting by van der Weyden, see
Seven Sacraments Altarpiece
.
The
Sacraments of the Catholic Church
are, the
Roman Catholic Church
teaches, "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."
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1
]
Every individual is not able to receive every
sacrament
.
[
citation needed
]
The Roman Catholic Church affirms that Jesus Christ established "His life-giving Spirit upon His disciples and through Him has established His
Body
which is the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation".
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2
]
The Church has given us seven sacraments and teaches that Christ bestows on these sacraments particular graces, such as incorporation into Christ and the Church, forgiveness of sins, or consecration for a particular service.
[
citation needed
]
While the Church itself is the universal sacrament of salvation,
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]
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]
the sacraments
of
the Catholic Church in the strict sense
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]
are seven sacraments that "touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith".
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]
"The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation", although not all are necessary for every individual,
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and has placed under anathema those who deny it: "If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that, without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification;-though all (the sacraments) are not ineed necessary for every individual; let him be anathema."
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]
The Church further teaches that the effect of a sacrament comes
ex opere operato
, by the very fact of being administered, regardless of the personal holiness of the minister administering it.
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]
However, a recipient's own lack of proper disposition to receive the grace conveyed can block the effectiveness of the sacrament in that person. The sacraments presuppose faith and through their words and ritual elements, nourish, strengthen and give expression to faith.
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10
]
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church
lists the sacraments as follows: "The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments. There are seven sacraments in the Church:
Baptism
,
Confirmation
or
Chrismation
,
Eucharist
,
Penance
,
Anointing of the Sick
,
Holy Orders
, and
Matrimony
."
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11
]
Distribution of divine graces by means of the Catholic Church and the sacraments (Johannes Hopffe,
Hildesheim
, before 1615)
Sacraments of initiation
[
edit
]
The
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
states: "Christian initiation is accomplished by means of the sacraments which establish the foundations of Christian life. The faithful born anew by Baptism are strengthened by Confirmation and are then nourished by the Eucharist."
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]
Baptism
[
edit
]
The Catholic Church sees
baptism
as the first and basic sacrament of Christian initiation.
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13
]
In the Western or
Latin Rite
of the Church, baptism is usually conferred today by pouring water three times on the recipient's head, while reciting the baptismal formula: "I baptize you
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
" (cf.
Matthew 28:19
). In the
Eastern Catholic Churches
of
Byzantine Rite
immersion or submersion is used, and the formula is: "The servant of God, N., is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
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14
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Though sprinkling is not normally used, its validity is accepted, provided that the water flows over the skin, since otherwise it is not a washing.
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]
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Confirmation
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edit
]
Confirmation or Chrismation is the second sacrament of Christian initiation.
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]
"It is called Chrismation (in the Eastern Churches: anointing with holy myron or chrism) because the essential rite of the sacrament is anointing with chrism. It is called Confirmation because it confirms and strengthens baptismal grace."
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18
]
It is conferred by "the
anointing
with Sacred
Chrism
(oil mixed with balsam and consecrated by the bishop), which is done by the laying on of the hand of the minister who pronounces the sacramental words proper to the rite."
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]
These words, in both their Western and Eastern variants, refer to a gift of the
Holy Spirit
that marks the recipient as with a seal. Through the sacrament the grace given in baptism is "strengthened and deepened."
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]
Like baptism, confirmation may be received only once, and the recipient must be in a state of grace (meaning free from any known unconfessed
mortal sin
) in order to receive its effects. The "originating" minister of the sacrament is a validly consecrated
bishop
; if a priest (a "presbyter") confers the sacrament ? as is done ordinarily in the Eastern Churches and in special cases (such as the baptism of an adult or in danger of the death of a young child) in the
Latin Church
(CCC 1312?1313) ? the link with the higher order is indicated by the use of oil (known as "
chrism
" or "
myron
")
blessed
by the bishop on
Holy Thursday
itself or on a day close to it. In the East, which retains the ancient practice, the sacrament is administered by the parish priest immediately after baptism. In the West, where administration is normally reserved for those who can understand its significance, it came to be postponed until the recipient's early adulthood; but in view of the earlier age at which children are now admitted to reception of the Eucharist, it is more and more restored to the traditional order and administered before giving the third sacrament of Christian initiation.
See also
Catechism of the Catholic Church
, 1285?1321
Eucharist
[
edit
]
The Eucharist, also called the
Most Blessed Sacrament
, is the sacrament (the third of Christian initiation,
[
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]
the one that the
Catechism of the Catholic Church
says "completes Christian initiation")
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by which Catholics partake of the Body and Blood of
Jesus
Christ and participate in his one sacrifice. The first of these two aspects of the sacrament is also called Holy Communion. The bread (which must be wheaten, and which is
unleavened
in the Latin, Armenian and Ethiopic Rites, but is leavened in most Eastern Rites) and wine (which must be from grapes) used in the Eucharistic rite are, in Catholic faith, transformed in its inner reality, though not in appearance, into the Body and Blood of Christ, a change that is called
transubstantiation
. "The minister who is able to confect the sacrament of the Eucharist in the person of Christ is a validly ordained priest alone."
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]
The word "priest" here (in Latin
sacerdos
) includes both bishops and those priests who are also called
presbyters
.
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]
Deacons
as well as priests (
sacerdotes
) are ordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and lay people may be authorized in limited circumstances to act as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. The Eucharist is seen as "the source and summit" of Christian living, the high point of God's sanctifying action on the faithful and of their worship of God, the point of contact between them and the liturgy of heaven. So important is it that participation in the Eucharistic celebration (see
Mass
) is seen as obligatory on every Sunday and
holy day of obligation
and is recommended on other days. Also recommended for those who participate in the Mass is reception, with the proper dispositions, of Holy Communion. This is seen as obligatory at least once a year, during Eastertide.
See also
Catechism of the Catholic Church
, 1322?1419
Sacraments of healing
[
edit
]
Penance or Reconciliation
[
edit
]
The Sacrament of Penance is the first of two sacraments of healing. The Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions in the following orders different names of the sacrament, calling it the sacrament of conversion, Penance, confession, forgiveness and Reconciliation.
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It is the sacrament of spiritual healing for a baptized person from the distancing from God resulting from sins committed. If a man sins after baptism, he cannot have baptism as a remedy; Baptism, which is a spiritual regeneration, cannot be given a second time.
Reconciliation involves four elements: (1) Contrition (the Penitent's sincere remorse for wrongdoing or sin, repentance, without which the rite has no effect); (2) Confession to a Priest with the faculty to hear confessions (Canon 966.1) ? while it may be spiritually helpful to confess to another, only a Priest has the power to administer the sacrament; (3) Absolution by the Priest; and, (4) Satisfaction or Penance.
"Many sins wrong our neighbour. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered, pay compensation for injuries). Simple justice requires as much. But sin also injures and weakens the sinner himself, as well as his relationships with God and neighbour. Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused. Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must 'make satisfaction for' or 'expiate' his sins. This satisfaction is also called 'penance'" (CCC 1459). In early Christian centuries, this element of satisfaction was quite onerous and generally preceded absolution, but now it usually involves a simple task for the penitent to perform, to make some reparation and as a medicinal means of strengthening against further temptation.
The priest is bound by the "
seal of confession
", which is inviolable. "Accordingly, it is absolutely wrong for a confessor in any way to betray the penitent, for any reason whatsoever, whether by word or in any other fashion."
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A confessor who directly violates the sacramental seal incurs an automatic excommunication whose lifting is reserved to the
Holy See
.
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In some dioceses, certain sins are "reserved" which means only certain confessors can absolve them. Some sins, such as violation of the sacramental seal, consecration of bishops without authorization by the Holy See, direct physical attacks on the
Pope
, and intentional desecration of the Eucharist are reserved to the Holy See. A special case-by-case faculty from the
Sacred Penitentiary
is normally required to absolve these sins.
See also
Catechism of the Catholic Church
, 1422?1498
Anointing of the Sick
[
edit
]
Anointing of the Sick
is the second sacrament of healing. In this sacrament a priest anoints the sick with oil blessed specifically for that purpose. "The anointing of the sick can be administered to any member of the faithful who, having reached the use of reason, begins to be in danger by reason of illness or old age" (canon 1004; cf. CCC 1514). A new illness or a worsening of health enables a person to receive the sacrament a further time.
When, in the Western Church, the sacrament was conferred only on those in
immediate
danger of death, it came to be known as "
Extreme Unction
", i.e. "Final Anointing", administered as one of the
Last Rites
. The other Last Rites are Confession (if the dying person is physically unable to confess, at least absolution, conditional on the existence of contrition, is given), and the Eucharist, which when administered to the dying is known as "
Viaticum
", a word whose original meaning in
Latin
was "provision for a journey".
Sacraments at the service of communion
[
edit
]
Holy Orders
[
edit
]
Holy Orders
is the sacrament by which a man is made a
bishop
, a
priest
, or a
deacon
, and thus dedicated to be an
image of Christ
. A bishop is the minister of this sacrament. Ordination as a bishop confers the fullness of the sacrament, making the bishop a member of the body of successors of the
Apostles
, and giving him the mission to teach, sanctify, and govern, along with the care of all the Churches. Ordination as a priest configures the priest to Christ the Head of the Church and the one essential High Priest, and conferring on him the power, as the bishops' assistant, to celebrate the sacraments and other liturgical acts, especially the Eucharist. Ordination as a deacon configures the deacon to Christ the Servant of All, placing him at the service of the bishop, especially in the Church's exercising of Christian charity towards the poor and preaching of the word of God.
Aspirants to the priesthood are required by
canon law
(canon 1032 of the Code of Canon Law) to go through a
seminary
program that includes, as well as graduate level philosophical and theological studies, a formation program that includes
spiritual direction
,
retreats
, apostolate experience, etc. The course of studies in preparation for ordination as a permanent deacon is decided by the
episcopal conference
concerned.
See also
Catechism of the Catholic Church
, 1536?1600
Matrimony
[
edit
]
Matrimony
, or Marriage, is another sacrament that consecrates for a particular mission in building up the Church, and that provides grace for accomplishing that mission. This sacrament, seen as a sign of the love uniting Christ and the Church, establishes between the spouses a permanent and exclusive bond, sealed by God. Accordingly, a marriage between
baptized
people, validly entered into and consummated, cannot be dissolved. The sacrament confers on them the grace they need for attaining holiness in their married life and for responsible acceptance and upbringing of their children. As a condition for validity, the sacrament is celebrated in the presence of the local
Ordinary
or
Parish Priest
or of a cleric delegated by them (or in certain limited circumstances a lay person delegated by the diocesan Bishop with the approval of the
Episcopal Conference
and the permission of the
Holy See
) and at least two other witnesses,
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though in the theological tradition of the Latin Church the ministers of the sacrament are the couple themselves. For a valid marriage, a man and a woman must express their conscious and free consent to a definitive self-giving to the other, excluding none of the essential properties and aims of marriage. If one of the two is a non-Catholic Christian, their marriage is licit only if the permission of the competent authority of the Catholic Church is obtained. If one of the two is not a Christian (i.e. has not been
baptized
), the competent authority's dispensation is necessary for validity.
Validity and liceity of administration of the sacraments
[
edit
]
As stated above, the effect of the sacraments comes
ex opere operato
(by the very fact of being administered). Since it is Christ who operates through them, their effectiveness does not depend on the worthiness of the minister. The belief that the validity of the sacrament is dependent upon the holiness of the administrator was rejected in the
Donatist
crisis.
However, an apparent administration of a sacrament is invalid, if the person acting as minister does not have the necessary power (as if a deacon were to celebrate
Mass
). They are also invalid if the required "matter" or "form" is lacking. The matter is the perceptible material object, such as water in baptism or wheaten bread and grape wine for the Eucharist, or the visible action. The form is the verbal statement that specifies the signification of the matter, such as, (in the Western Church), "N., I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". Furthermore, if the minister positively excludes some essential aspect of the sacrament, the sacrament is invalid. This last condition lies behind the 1896 judgement of the Holy See denying the validity of
Anglican Orders
.
A sacrament may be administered validly, but illicitly, if a condition imposed by canon law is not observed. Obvious cases are administration of a sacrament by a priest under a penalty of excommunication or suspension, and an episcopal ordination without a mandate from the Pope.
Canon law
specifies impediments to reception of the sacraments of orders and marriage. Those concerning the first of these two sacraments only concern liceity, but "a diriment impediment renders a person incapable of validly contracting a marriage" (canon 1073).
In the
Latin Church
, only the Holy See can authentically declare when divine law prohibits or invalidates a marriage, and only the Holy See has the right to establish for those who are baptised other impediments to marriage (canon 1075). But individual
Eastern Catholic Churches
, after having fulfilled certain requirements that include consulting (but not necessarily obtaining approval from) the Holy See, may establish impediments (Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 792).
If an impediment is imposed by merely ecclesiastical law, rather than being a matter of divine law, the Church may grant a dispensation from the impediment.
Conditions for validity of marriage such as sufficient use of reason (canon 1095) and freedom from coercion (canon 1103), and the requirement that, normally, a marriage be contracted in the presence of the local Ordinary or parish priest or of the priest or deacon delegated by either of them, and in the presence of two witnesses (canon 1108), are not classified in the Code of Canon Law as impediments, but have much the same effect.
Three of the sacraments may not be repeated: Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders: their effect is permanent. This teaching has been expressed by the images of, in the West, an indelible
character or mark
and of, in the East, a seal (CCC 698). However, if there is doubt about the validity of the administration of one or more of these sacraments, a conditional form of conferral may be used, such as: "If you are not already baptized, I baptize you …"
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In the still recent past, it was common practice in the Catholic Church to baptize conditionally almost every convert from
Protestantism
because of a perceived difficulty in judging about the validity in any concrete instance. In the case of the major Protestant denominations, agreements involving assurances about the manner in which they administer baptism has ended this practice, which sometimes continues for other groups of Protestant tradition. The Catholic Church has always recognized the validity of baptism in the Churches of
Eastern Christianity
, but it has explicitly denied the validity of the baptism conferred in
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
.
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]
It does not recognize a baptismal ceremony in which the names of the three Persons of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are replaced by descriptions such as Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier, and requires that the conditional form should not be used when baptizing people who have received this kind of baptism.
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References
[
edit
]
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1131
- ^
"Lumen Gentium: chapter 7, section 48, paragraph 2"
. Retrieved 26 July 2012
.
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 774-776
- ^
"Lumen Gentium: chapter 7, section 48, paragraph 2"
. Retrieved 26 July 2012
.
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1117
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1210
- ^
[
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P33.HTM
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1129
- ^
Council of Trent, Seventh Session, canon IV
- ^
New Catholic Dictionary
- ^
Sacrosanctum Concilium
, 59, quoted in
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1123
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1113
- ^
sacraments of Christian initiation Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 251
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1212
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1239?1240
- ^
Charles Coppens, S.J.,
The Catholic Religion
- ^
Catholic Encyclopedia:
Baptism
- ^
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 251
- ^
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 266
- ^
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 267
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1303
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church
, 1212
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church
, 1322
- ^
Code of Canon Law, canon 900 §1
- ^
While in the English language, the word "priest" usually means someone received into the second of the three
holy orders
(also called the presbyterate) but not into the highest, that of
bishop
, the Latin text underlying this statement uses the Latin term
sacerdos
, which comprises both bishops and, in the common English sense, priests. To refer exclusively to priests in the more common English sense, Latin uses the word
presbyter
. See
Dennis Chester Smolarski,
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 1969-2002: A Commentary
(Liturgical Press 2003 ISBN 9780814629369), p. 24
.
- ^
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1423?1424
- ^
canon 983
of the Code of Canon Law
- ^
canon 1388
- ^
canons 1108 and 1112
of the
Code of Canon Law
- ^
Code of Canon Law, canon 869
; cf.
New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law By John P. Beal, James A. Coriden, Thomas J.
, pp. 1057?1059.
- ^
"Response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith"
. Vatican.va. 5 June 2001
. Retrieved 26 March 2010
.
- ^
"Response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith"
. Vatican.va. 1 February 2008
. Retrieved 26 March 2010
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Raniero Cantalamessa
OFMCap,
Introduction
, in:
Easter in the Early Church. An Anthology of Jewish and Early Christian Texts
, (1993), J.M. Quigley SJ, J.T. Lienhard SJ (translators & editors), Collegville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, pp. 254,
ISBN 0-8146-2164-3
- Kenan B. Osborne,
OFM
, (1987),
The Christian Sacraments of Initiation. Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, New York-Mahwah: Paulist Press,
ISBN 0-8091-2886-1
- Poschmann Bernhard SJ (1963).
Penance and the Anointing of the Sick
. The Herder History of Dogma. Fr. Courtney SJ (transl. from German). Freiburg - London: Herder - Burns & Oates. p. 257.
- Liam G. Walsh
OP
(1988),
The Sacraments of Christian Initiation. Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist.
London: Geoffrey Chapman,
ISBN 0 225 66499 2
, pp. 317.
- Vogel C. (1982).
Le pecheur et la penitence dans l'Eglise ancienne
. Paris: Cerf. p. 213.
ISBN
2-204-01949-6
.
- Vogel C. (1982).
Le pecheur et la penitence au moyen-age
. Paris: Cerf. p. 245.
ISBN
2-204-01950-X
.
- Edward Yarnold
SJ
, (1971)
The awe inspiring rites of initiation. Baptismal homilies of the fourth century
, Slough: St. Paul Publications, pp. 292
ISBN 0 85439 082 0
Related links
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Rites and
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Defunct rites
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