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: Таъмид, Тасдиқ, the Эвхарист, Эътироф, Издивоҷ, Orders, and the Тадҳин кардани беморон.
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 Инҷили Юҳанно, 3:5, and the Аъмоли ҳаввориён, 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 Ҷон 3:5; 9:7; Аъмоли ҳаввориён, 8:37; Paul’s Letter to Titus 3:5; or Peter’s First Letter 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (see the Инҷили Марқӯс 6:13, or the Номаи Ҷеймс 5:14); clay (see Ҷон 9:6); garments (Марк 5:25 or Луқо 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (see the Аъмоли ҳаввориён 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, низ, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (see the Инҷили Луқо 1:41, 44, and the Аъмоли ҳаввориён 5:15, respectively).