The Sacraments

The word sacrament comes from an ancient Roman word “sacramentum”.  A sacramentum was a solemn oath that a Roman took according to law.  Literally, the word meant “a sacred act,” for an oath was considered to be a sacred thing.

The early Christians adopted this word to apply to certain sacred acts of the Christian religion, acts which were external signs of some deep spiritual significance. The external acts to which the word “sacrament” was applied were those that Christ Himself had instituted for the sacred purpose of applying to men’s souls the grace of His redemption.

The seven sacraments are – Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, Penance or Confession, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick. All of them consist of some material act – water, oil, bread, wine – and some external act: pouring, anointing, laying on of hands, uttering words, and all of them by these means symbolize the application of Christ's redemptive grace to men's souls and actually confer this grace.

The reason Christ instituted the sacraments is a mystery, just as the mystery of why He redeemed us by His life, suffering, death and resurrection, when a simple act of the divine will could have accomplished the same result.  It is sufficient for us to know that He did this – the fullness of the reason for it is hidden within the divine mind.

Maybe a partial reason is that we need a physical sign of God’s love.  We need to see God’s love throughout the ages, through the sacraments.

Anointing of the Sick
Baptism
Confirmation
Holy Eucharist
Holy Orders
Matrimony
Reconciliation