What is a Sacrament
"The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life; they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of spiritual life." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1210)
Sacraments are visible signs of God's invisible grace. As the old Baltimore Catechism so succinctly put it, "A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace." A sign is something we can perceive with our senses. We can see and feel the water used in baptism. The priest can hear the words of the penitent in confession. The seven sacraments of the Church were given to us by the Lord Jesus himself so that we may receive sanctifying grace, the grace that makes us holy. And the sacraments truly confer the grace they signify. The following links describe how Mary Queen of Peace Parish prepares children and adults to receive and celebrate the sacraments.
Baptism
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that, "Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.
Confession/ Reconciliation
Jesus breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20: 22-23)
Eucharist/ Holy Communion
The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." (Catechism of the Catholic Church #124) It is the source of the Christian life because the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is Christ himself, body, blood, soul, and divinity.
Confirmation
"Confirmation perfects Baptismal grace; it is the sacrament which gives the Holy Spirit in order to root us more deeply in the divine filiation.
Holy Matrimony
"The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator.
Holy Orders
"Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry.
Anointing of the Sick
"Are there people sick among you? Let them send for the priests of the Church, and let the priests pray over them anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick persons, and the Lord will raise them up." (Pastoral Care of the Sick #155)
