THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
Baptism
Penance
the Eucharist
Confirmation
Anointing of the Sick
Holy Orders
Matrimony
 

Baptisms
Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life,
the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),
and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.
Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God;
we become members of Christ,
are incorporated into the Church
and made sharers in her mission:
"Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word."

Penance
It is called the sacrament of conversion
because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion,
the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin.
It is called the sacrament of Penance,
since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal
and ecclesial steps of conversion,
penance, and satisfaction.
It is called the sacrament of confession,
since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest
is an essential element of this sacrament.
In a profound sense it is also a "confession"
- acknowledgment and praise -
of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.
It is called the sacrament of forgiveness,
since by the priest's sacramental absolution
God grants the penitent "pardon and peace.
It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation,
because it imparts to the sinner the live of God who reconciles:
"Be reconciled to God." He who lives by God's merciful love
is ready to respond to the Lord's call:
"Go; first be reconciled to your brother."

Eucharist
At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed,
our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice
of his Body and Blood.
This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice
of the cross throughout the
ages until he should come again,
and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse,
the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection:
a sacrament of love,
a sign of unity,
a bond of charity,
a Paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed,
the mind is filled with grace,
and a pledge of future glory is given to us

Confirmation
by the sacrament of Confirmation,
[the baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church
and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit.
Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ,
more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.

Anointing of the Sick

By the sacred anointing of the sick
and the prayer of the priests
the whole Church commends those who are ill to the
suffering and glorified Lord,
that he may raise them up and save them.
And indeed she exhorts them to contribute
to the good of the People of God
by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ.

Please remember our deceased parishioners in your prayers.

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.
It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and deaconate.
Religious Vocations

Matrimony
The matrimonial covenant,
by which a man and a woman establish between
themselves a partnership of the whole of life,
is by its nature ordered toward the good
of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring;
this covenant between baptized persons
has been raised by Christ the Lord
to the dignity of a sacrament.