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: Te iriiringa, Whakapumautanga, te Eucharist, Whakaaetanga, Matrimony, Orders, and the Te whakawahinga o te hunga mate.
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, hei tauira, 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 (kite Rongopai a Hoani, 3:5, and the Nga Mahi a nga Apotoro, 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, kite Hone 3:5; 9:7; Nga Mahi a nga Apotoro, 8:37; ta Paora Pukapuka ki a Taituha 3:5; or Peter’s Reta Tuatahi 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (kite te Rongopai a Mareko 6:13, or the Pukapuka a Hemi 5:14); clay (kite Hone 9:6); garments (Mark 5:25 or Ruka 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (kite te Nga Mahi a nga Apotoro 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, hoki, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (kite te Rongopai a Ruka 1:41, 44, and the Nga Mahi a nga Apotoro 5:15, respectively).