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: Battesimo, Conferma, IL Eucaristia, Confessione, Matrimonio, Orders, e il Unzione degli infermi.
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, Per esempio, 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 (Vedere Vangelo di Giovanni, 3:5, e il Atti degli Apostoli, 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 (Ancora, Vedere John 3:5; 9:7; Atti degli Apostoli, 8:37; di Paul Letter to Titus 3:5; or Peter’s First Letter 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (vedere il Vangelo di Marco 6:13, or the Lettera di Giacomo 5:14); clay (Vedere John 9:6); garments (Segno 5:25 O Luca 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (vedere il Atti degli Apostoli 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, pure, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (vedere il Vangelo di Luca 1:41, 44, e il Atti degli Apostoli 5:15, respectively).