The Sacraments
See the seven sacraments as a connected life of initiation, healing, and service.
In this reading
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What sacraments are
Sacraments are effective signs of grace instituted by Christ and celebrated in the Church. Their visible elements belong to the way embodied people encounter God’s action. Their fruitfulness is not a reward for the minister’s personal excellence, though reverent celebration and the recipient’s disposition matter. Sacramental grace calls for a continuing response in daily life.
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The seven sacraments as a whole
The seven sacraments belong to one sacramental life. Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, and the Eucharist initiate Christian life; penance and anointing serve healing; Holy Orders and Matrimony serve communion and mission. These groupings show their relationships rather than making any sacrament an isolated religious milestone. Their celebration differs in legitimate ways across Catholic traditions.
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Baptism and Christian initiation
Baptism brings a person into Christ’s death and resurrection, forgives sin, and incorporates the baptized into the Church. Water and the Trinitarian invocation belong to its essential sign. Infant baptism expresses the priority of grace and the responsibility of family and Church to nurture faith. Adult initiation includes preparation and personal profession; particular pastoral situations require careful sacramental guidance.
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Confirmation and chrismation
Confirmation strengthens baptismal grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit for Christian witness. Eastern Catholic traditions commonly call it Chrismation and celebrate it with Baptism, including for infants. Latin practices concerning age and sequence differ. It is not simply a graduation ceremony or an assertion that a young person no longer needs formation.
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Make it part of your story.
Which sacrament is least familiar to you, and what would you like to ask about it?
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