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: Ua kevcai raus dej, paub tseeb, the Eucharist, Confession, matrimony, Orders, and the Xaiv cov kev mob uas mob ua rau cov xaiv tseg.
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 (see Phau vajlugkub qhia txog Yauhas, 3:5, and the 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, see 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 (see the Phau Ntawv Mathai, Malakau, Luka, thiab 6:13, or the Tsab ntawv james 5:14); clay (see John 9:6); garments (Kos 5:25 or Lukas 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (see the Tubtxib Tes Haujlwm 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, too, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (see the Phau Vajlugkub qhia txog Txoj kab zoo 1:41, 44, and the Tubtxib Tes Haujlwm 5:15, respectively).