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: Baptizim, Nkwenye, nke Eucharist, Nkwuputa, Nwunye, Orders, na nke Ire ndị ọrịa mmanụ.
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, ọmụmaatụ, 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 (hụ Oziọma Jọn, 3:5, na nke Ọrụ Ndịozi, 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, hụ Jọn 3:5; 9:7; Ọrụ Ndịozi, 8:37; Paul’s Letter to Titus 3:5; or Peter’s Akwụkwọ ozi mbụ 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (hụ nke Oziọma Mak 6:13, or the Akwụkwọ ozi James 5:14); clay (hụ Jọn 9:6); garments (Mark 5:25 ma ọ bụ Luk 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (hụ nke Ọrụ Ndịozi 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, kwa, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (hụ nke Oziọma Luk 1:41, 44, na nke Ọrụ Ndịozi 5:15, n'otu n'otu).