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: Крещение, Подтверждение, в Евхаристия, Признание, Брак, Orders, и Помазание больных.
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, например, 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 (видеть Евангелие от Иоанна, 3:5, и Деяния апостолов, 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 (снова, видеть Джон 3:5; 9:7; Деяния апостолов, 8:37; Павла Letter to Titus 3:5; or Peter’s First Letter 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (see the Евангелие от Марка 6:13, или Письмо Джеймса 5:14); clay (видеть Джон 9:6); garments (Отметка 5:25 или Люк 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (see the Деяния апостолов 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, слишком, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (see the Евангелие от Луки 1:41, 44, и Деяния апостолов 5:15, respectively).