As the name implies, the Sacraments are sacred rites instituted in the Church by Jesus. Properly speaking, there are seven Sacraments in the Catholic faith: Кръщение, Потвърждение, на Евхаристия, Изповед, Брак, Orders, и на Помазване на болните.
Through the Sacraments believers receive God’s grace through material things like water, bread, wine and oil.
The Sacraments may be understood as outward signs that convey the grace they signify. Water, например, signifies cleanliness and life. By the grace of God, the waters of Baptism actually cleanse the soul of sin and fill it with divine life (виж Евангелие от Йоан, 3:5, и на Деяния на апостолите, 2:38). The Sacraments are patterned after the Incarnation, in which God, a spiritual being, took on human flesh–and the invisible one became visible.
The idea of grace being transferred through material things is a Biblical concept.
In the New Testament alone, we see water used in this way (отново, виж Джон 3:5; 9:7; Деяния на апостолите, 8:37; на Пол Letter to Titus 3:5; or Peter’s First Letter 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (вижте Евангелие от Марк 6:13, or the Писмо на Джеймс 5:14); clay (виж Джон 9:6); garments (Марк 5:25 или Лука 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (вижте Деяния на апостолите 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, също, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (вижте Евангелие от Лука 1:41, 44, и на Деяния на апостолите 5:15, съответно).