Sacraments of the
Catholic Church
The Seven
Sacraments
Baptism
Penance/Reconciliation
Eucharist
Confirmation
Matrimony
Holy Orders
Extremaunction or Anointing of the Sick
The history of human salvation is
the history of the way God came to men. The first step on this way was the
bridging of the gulf separating God and man in the person of the one
Mediator Jesus Christ and by his work of redemption. By means of his
Church Christ makes his grace available to all. Only in this application
of redemption to mankind is the redemptive action of Christ completed. The
doctrine of the sacraments is the doctrine of the second part of God's way
of salvation to us. It deals with the holy signs which Christ instituted
as the vehicles of his grace.
The great mystery of the union in Christ of a human nature with the second
Person of the Godhead is that the human actions and sufferings of Christ
are divine actions and sufferings. The sacraments are a living
continuation of this mystery. There are earthly, external signs here
which, of themselves, could never acquire any supernatural significance,
but the signs of the sacraments have been made by Christ into vehicles of
his grace. They effect in men the grace for which Christ made them the
sign.
So there are two fundamental ideas which constantly recur in the Church's
teaching, on the sacraments. First there is the Church's concern for these
instituted by Christ, their number, and their proper preservation and
administration; then the grace which Christ has for all time linked with
these signs and which is communicated by them.
The second is the effect of the sacraments. They are the signs of Christ's
work; the effectiveness of Christ's continuing work in his Church cannot
be dependent on man's inadequacy. A sacrament, administered properly in
the way established by Christ and with the proper intention, gives the
grace it signifies. It is effective not by reason of the power of
intercession of priestly prayer nor on account of the worthiness of the
recipient, but solely by the power of Christ. The power of Christ lives in
the sacraments. The effect of the sacrament is independent of the
sinfulness or unworthiness of the minister. The Church has never tolerated
any subjective qualification of the objective effectiveness of the
sacraments ex opere operato. This would ultimately be to conceive the way
of salvation as being man's way to God and not God's way to man.
The Church Thus Teaches: There are seven sacraments. They were instituted
by Christ and given to the Church to administer. They are necessary for
salvation. The sacraments are the vehicles of grace which they convey.
They are validly administered by the carrying out of the sign with the
proper intention. Not all are equally qualified to administer all the
sacraments. The validity of the sacrament is independent of the worthiness
of the minister. Three sacraments imprint an indelible character.
Sacramentals are instituted by the Church and are effective by virtue of
the Church's intercession. Institution and alteration of them is reserved
to the Holy See.