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: Baisteadh, Dearbhadh, an Eucharist, Aidmheil, Pòsadh, Orders, and the Ungadh nan Tinne.
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 (faic Soisgeul Eoin, 3:5, and the Gniomh nan Abstol, 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, faic Iain 3:5; 9:7; Gniomh nan Abstol, 8:37; Paul’s Letter to Titus 3:5; or Peter’s First Letter 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (see the Soisgeul Mharcais 6:13, or the Litir Sheumais 5:14); clay (faic Iain 9:6); garments (Marc 5:25 neo Lucas 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (see the Gniomh nan Abstol 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, cuideachd, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (see the Soisgeul Lucais 1:41, 44, and the Gniomh nan Abstol 5:15, respectively).