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: Krštenje, Potvrda, the Euharistija, Ispovest, Brak, Orders, and the Bolesničko pomazanje.
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, na primjer, 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 (vidi Jevanđelje po Jovanu, 3:5, and the Djela apostolska, 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 (opet, vidi John 3:5; 9:7; Djela apostolska, 8:37; Paul’s Letter to Titus 3:5; or Peter’s Prvo pismo 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (see the Jevanđelje po Marku 6:13, ili Jamesovo pismo 5:14); clay (vidi John 9:6); garments (Mark 5:25 or Luke 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (see the Djela apostolska 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, također, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (see the Jevanđelje po Luki 1:41, 44, and the Djela apostolska 5:15, respectively).