Opening

The Catholic Church holds that there are seven sacraments — Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. Each is "an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us" §1131. The seven were defined as such by the Council of Florence (1439) and reaffirmed at Trent (1547) TrentSess7 Can1.

This article reports each sacrament — its scriptural institution, matter and form, minister, recipient, and effect. LV reports; it does not teach.

1. What is a sacrament?

The Catechism's definition: "The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament" §1131.

Three notes:

  • Efficacious signs. A sacrament does what it signifies. Baptism does not merely picture spiritual rebirth; it effects it.
  • Instituted by Christ. Each of the seven traces to a specific moment of institution in the New Testament or to Christ's commission of the apostolic Church.
  • Entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are administered by the Church's ministers, on the Church's authority, with the Church's matter and form.

The traditional Latin phrase: sacramenta propter homines — "the sacraments are for the sake of human beings." They meet the human person where the human person is — embodied, social, in time, in need of visible signs of invisible realities.

2. The Council of Trent's definition

Trent (Session 7, 1547) defined the seven against Reformation challenges that had reduced the sacraments to two (Baptism and Eucharist):

"If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord; or that there are more or less than seven, namely, baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, order, and matrimony; or that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament: let him be anathema." TrentSess7 Can1

Trent also defined that the sacraments confer grace ex opere operato — "by the work worked," not by the moral state of the minister or the eloquence of the rite TrentSess7 Can8. A baptism by a sinful priest confers the grace of baptism if the matter and form are valid and the proper intention is present.

3. Baptism

Scriptural institution. "Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost" Matt 28:19. Christ's commission gives the form. John 3:5 gives the sacrament's necessity: "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Matter: water (immersion, infusion, or aspersion).

Form: "I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (in any language; Trinitarian formula required).

Minister: ordinarily a priest or deacon; in necessity, anyone with the proper intention, even a non-Christian, can validly baptise §1256.

Recipient: any unbaptised person, including infants. Original sin is removed; the soul is incorporated into Christ; the Holy Spirit indwells; the baptismal character is impressed (the sacrament cannot be repeated) §1262-1274.

4. Confirmation

Scriptural institution. "Now when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Who, when they were come, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For he was not as yet come upon any of them: but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands upon them: and they received the Holy Ghost" Acts 8:14-17. The post-baptismal laying-on of hands for the gift of the Spirit is the apostolic structure of Confirmation.

Matter: chrism (consecrated oil), signed in the form of the cross on the forehead.

Form (Latin Rite): "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Minister: ordinarily a bishop in the Latin Rite; the priest in the Eastern Rites (where Chrismation immediately follows infant Baptism). In the Latin Rite, priests can be delegated.

Effect: strengthens the grace of Baptism, completes the initiation, configures more deeply to Christ, gives the gifts of the Holy Spirit, impresses the indelible character §1303.

5. Eucharist

Scriptural institution. The Last Supper: "Take ye, and eat. This is my body. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood of the new testament" Matt 26:26-28. "Do this for the commemoration of me" 1 Cor 11:24. John 6 prepares the doctrine: "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life" John 6:55.

Matter: wheat bread (unleavened in the Latin Rite, leavened in most Eastern Rites) and grape wine.

Form: the words of consecration spoken by the priest in persona Christi — "This is my body… This is the chalice of my blood…"

Minister: validly ordained priest only.

Recipient: baptised Catholic in a state of grace, with the proper disposition, having observed the Eucharistic fast.

Effect: the Real Presence — the bread and wine become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ (transubstantiation, defined at Trent TrentSess13 Ch4); union with Christ; remission of venial sin; preservation from mortal sin; pledge of future glory §1391-1405.

The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life" LG §11 §1324 — the central act of Catholic worship and the only sacrament in which Christ is substantially present, not merely as efficacious sign but as Person.

6. Penance (Reconciliation, Confession)

Scriptural institution. "Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained" John 20:22-23. The risen Christ gives the apostles the authority to forgive and retain sins. Trent defines this as the institution of the sacrament TrentSess14 Ch1.

Matter: the penitent's contrition, confession, and satisfaction.

Form: the priest's words of absolution: "I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Minister: validly ordained priest with faculties to absolve.

Recipient: baptised Catholic conscious of sin, willing to confess, sorry for the sin, intending to amend.

Effect: absolution from sins committed after Baptism; reconciliation with God and the Church; restoration of grace if mortal sin had been committed; remission of eternal punishment due to mortal sin (though temporal punishment may remain, addressed by satisfaction and indulgences) §1422-1498.

The integrity of confession requires confession of all mortal sins by number and kind, to the best of memory and ability §1456 canon 988. Venial sins may be confessed but are not required to be.

7. Anointing of the Sick

Scriptural institution. "Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him" Jas 5:14-15. James gives the apostolic structure of the sacrament.

Matter: consecrated oil of the sick.

Form: "Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up."

Minister: validly ordained priest.

Recipient: any baptised Catholic in serious illness or danger of death; can be repeated when the danger recurs or worsens.

Effect: strengthens the soul; remits venial sins and (when the dying person is unable to confess) mortal sins if the person was contrite; sometimes restores bodily health if conducive to salvation; configures to Christ's Passion; prepares for the final journey §1520-1532.

8. Holy Orders

Scriptural institution. Christ's choice of the Twelve Mark 3:14, their commission Matt 28:19-20, the Pauline pattern of laying-on of hands 1 Tim 4:14 2 Tim 1:6. The sacrament has three degrees — bishop, priest, deacon.

Matter: the laying-on of hands by the bishop.

Form: the consecratory prayer specific to each degree.

Minister: a validly consecrated bishop.

Recipient: a baptised, confirmed Catholic male of suitable age, formation, and disposition. The reservation of priestly ordination to men is defined definitively in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994).

Effect: configures the recipient to Christ in his role as priest, prophet, and king; impresses the indelible character of orders; confers the powers of the order conferred (deacons assist; priests offer the Eucharist and absolve sins; bishops have the fullness of the priesthood and the power to ordain) §1554-1600.

9. Matrimony

Scriptural institution. Christ at Cana John 2:1-11; Christ's restoration of the original meaning of marriage Matt 19:4-9; Paul's "great mystery" — Christ and the Church as the archetype of marriage Eph 5:32.

Matter and form: the matter is the persons of the spouses themselves; the form is the consent — "I take you to be my wife/husband" — freely given, mutually exchanged.

Minister: the spouses themselves are the ministers of the sacrament; the priest or deacon is the official witness on behalf of the Church (canonical form, CIC canon 1108) canon 1108.

Recipient: two baptised persons, one male and one female, free to marry, with full consent.

Effect: the spouses receive a permanent bond — indissoluble — and graces specific to married life; the marriage between two baptised persons is a sacrament ipso facto, signifying Christ's union with the Church §1601-1666.

10. The grouping of the seven

The seven sacraments cluster into three groups §1210-1212:

  • Sacraments of Christian Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist. These bring the person into full Catholic life.
  • Sacraments of Healing: Penance, Anointing of the Sick. These restore what sin or illness damages.
  • Sacraments at the Service of Communion: Holy Orders, Matrimony. These build up the People of God in their public roles.

11. What this article does not claim

It does not catalogue every liturgical variant in the Eastern Catholic Rites (where, for example, all three sacraments of initiation are normally given to infants together). It does not adjudicate the disputed questions of liturgical translation post-Vatican II. It does not enter contested pastoral cases (e.g., divorced-and-remarried receiving Communion — addressed at Familiaris Consortio §84, and Amoris Laetitia with various interpretations). Each sacrament will receive its own dedicated article in this pillar.

Closing

The seven sacraments are the ordinary channels through which Christ conveys his life to the baptised. Each was instituted by Christ; each has a matter, form, minister, and effect; each does what it signifies. Trent defined them; Vatican II reaffirmed them; the Catechism walks through them. To live the Catholic life is to live in the rhythm of the sacraments — initiated in Baptism and Confirmation, fed by the Eucharist, healed in Confession and Anointing, ordered toward communion through Orders or Matrimony.

— The Editors, LumenVeritatis