

The Catholic Church and
the term Catholic
Peter and the Papacy
The Sacraments
Mother?of?God Baptism
Immaclate?Conception Confession
Immaclate?Conception Eucharist
    The Mass
  The Real Presence
  Clerical celibacy
  Anointing of the Sick
Other Church Teaching
The Word of God
Heaven, Purgatory and Hell

<<  Third and Fourth CenturiesSpacer>>

The Early Church Fathers on the Sacraments of the Church.

The Sacraments of the Catholic Church

Catholic Christians, the very first Christians, can demonstrate by Oral and Written Tradition that there are seven sacraments, or sacred ceremonies instituted by our Saviour Jesus Christ, whereby the merits of His passion are applied to the soul of the worthy receiver.


A definition most Catholics grew up with is:

A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ that gives grace.

In the Early Church, as Scott Hahn has stated in his book "Swear to God", the sacraments were outward signs that united "the Invisible with the perceptible." They were Christian convenant oaths where the person receiving the sacrament would promise to do his part the best he could, and God, would swear divine help to do his part in the sacrament: which comes from a word meaning
"to seven oneself", shava. Because a sacrament involves God's name, the oath becomes both a pledge and a plea for divine help. Swear to God, pages 102, 123.



"the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant [priest] or the recipient, but by the power of God."


St. Thomas Aquinas



If you have never heard of these, or wish to learn more about them, click on each link to read more from the Catechism of the Catholic Church about what Our Blessed Lord instituted, for you!

The sacraments of the Church are categorized as follows:

The Sacraments of Initiation:

  1. Baptism
  2. Confirmation
  3. the Eucharist

The Sacraments of Healing

  1. Penance (Confession) and Reconciliation
  2. the Anointing of the Sick, formerly called. Extreme Unction

The Sacraments of Service, directed toward the salvation of others

  1. Matrimony, and
  2. Holy Orders
Please report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
Untitled Document