THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

A sacrament is a symbolic rite in which the recipient or communicant can make close personal contact with God. It is an outward sign of a transcendent or spiritual reality instituted by Christ for the channelling of his grace. This connection or inner grace is transmitted by a priest or a bishop. The sacraments are efficacious because it is Christ himself who works through them in the Holy Spirit to sanctify the souls of the recipients. Thus, clergy administer the sacraments ex opere operato ("in virtue of the act") independent of their merits and those of the recipients since they are an efficacious means of divine grace through the working of the Holy Spirit who operates in them.  However, spiritual benefits are applied ex opere operantis ("from the agent's activity") to the proper dispositions of the recipients with which a sacrament is received. God can withhold His grace if He wills because of a vain and unworthy reception of a sacrament. In any event, from the earliest times, there have been seven sacraments in the Catholic Church. These are ordered in the following sequence: Baptism, Reconciliation (Confession), Eucharist, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Holy Matrimony, and Anointing of the Sick (Extreme Unction).  The sacraments that leave an indelible mark on the soul are Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders. Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion are collectively known as the Sacraments of Initiation into the Catholic Church, “whose unity must be safeguarded” according to the Catholic Catechism.

BAPTISM

RECONCILIATION

HOLY EUCHARIST

CONFIRMATION

HOLY MATRIMONY

HOLY ORDERS

ANOINTING OF THE SICK