📖Overview

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. They are the masterworks of God in the new and everlasting covenant. The sacraments are "of the Church" in a double sense: they are "by her" because she is the sacrament of Christ's action, and they are "for her" because they build up the Body of Christ. The sacraments are organized into three groups: the Sacraments of Christian Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist), the Sacraments of Healing (Penance and Anointing of the Sick), and the Sacraments at the Service of Communion (Holy Orders and Matrimony). Each sacrament involves visible signs (matter and form), a minister, and the intention to do what the Church does. The sacraments act ex opere operato ("by the very fact of the action being performed"), meaning their efficacy comes from Christ's action, not from the worthiness of the minister or recipient, though the fruits of the sacraments depend on the disposition of the one who receives them. Three sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders) confer an indelible spiritual character and cannot be repeated.

💡Key Points