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: Binyag, Kumpirmasyon, ang Eukaristiya, Pagtatapat, Matrimony, Orders, at ang Pagpapahid ng Maysakit.
Through the Sacraments believers receive God’s grace through material things like water, tinapay, wine and oil.
The Sacraments may be understood as outward signs that convey the grace they signify. Water, Halimbawa, 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 (tingnan mo Ebanghelyo ni Juan, 3:5, at ang Mga Gawa ng mga Apostol, 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 (muli, tingnan mo John 3:5; 9:7; Mga Gawa ng mga Apostol, 8:37; kay Paul Liham kay Titus 3:5; or Peter’s Unang Liham 3:20 – 21); as well as oil (tingnan ang Ebanghelyo ni Marcos 6:13, o ang Liham ni James 5:14); luwad (tingnan mo John 9:6); garments (marka 5:25 o Luke 8:43); and even handkerchiefs (tingnan ang Mga Gawa ng mga Apostol 19:11-12).
God’s grace is transmitted through other sensible things, masyadong, such as Mary’s voice and Peter’s shadow (tingnan ang Ebanghelyo ni Lucas 1:41, 44, at ang Mga Gawa ng mga Apostol 5:15, ayon sa pagkakabanggit).