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: Kaste, Vahvistus, the Eukaristia, Tunnustus, Avioliitto, Orders, and the Viimeinen voitelu.
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, for example, 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 (katso Johanneksen evankeliumi, 3:5, and the Apostolien teot, 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 (again, katso John 3:5; 9:7; Apostolien teot, 8:37; Paul’s Letter to Titus 3:5; or Peter’s Ensimmäinen kirjain 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (katso Markuksen evankeliumi 6:13, or the Jaakobin kirje 5:14); clay (katso John 9:6); garments (Mark 5:25 tai Luke 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (katso Apostolien teot 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, liian, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (katso Luukkaan evankeliumi 1:41, 44, and the Apostolien teot 5:15, respectively).