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: Kev cai raus dej, Kev lees paub, the Eucharist, Kev lees txim, Kev sib yuav, Orders, thiab cov Kev pleev xim rau tus mob.
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, piv txwv, 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 (saib Txoj Moo Zoo ntawm John, 3:5, thiab cov Tubtxib Tes Haujlwm, 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, saib John 3:5; 9:7; Tubtxib Tes Haujlwm, 8:37; Paul’s Letter to Titus 3:5; or Peter’s First Letter 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (saib cov Txoj Moo Zoo ntawm Mark 6:13, or the Tsab ntawv ntawm James 5:14); clay (saib John 9:6); garments (Mark 5:25 los yog Lukas 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (saib cov Tubtxib Tes Haujlwm 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, ib yam nkaus, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (saib cov Txoj Moo Zoo ntawm Lukas 1:41, 44, thiab cov Tubtxib Tes Haujlwm 5:15, respectively).