SACRAMENTS

Scriptural,
Catechetical,
Canonical Interpretations
Defined as
“seven” by the
Council of Trent
on their 7th
Session: March
3, 1557
 Working Definition
SACRAMENTS – are

(1) efficacious signs of grace

(2) instituted by Christ and
(3) entrusted to the Church
(4) by which divine life is dispensed to us.
 Why the need for sacraments?
CCC 1129: The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the
New Covenant are necessary for salvation. Sacramental grace is the
grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each
sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him
by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental
life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the
divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son,
the Savior.
CCC 1131: The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated
signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They
bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.
CCC 1134: The fruit of sacramental life is both personal and ecclesial.
For every one of the faithful on the one hand, this fruit is life for God
in Christ Jesus; for the Church, on the other, it is an increase in
charity and in her mission of witness.
Canon 840
“The Sacraments of the New Testament were
instituted by Christ the Lord and entrusted to the
Church. As actions of Christ and of the Church, they
are signs and means by which faith is expressed and
strengthened, worship is offered to God and our
sanctification is brought about. Thus they contribute
in the most effective manner to establishing,
strengthening and manifesting ecclesiastical
communion. Accordingly, in the celebration of the
sacraments both the sacred ministers and all the other
members of Christ’s faithful must show great
reverence and due care.”
 Basic Considerations
Celebration – the former Code (1917) uses “administering
and receiving” and had been changed to “celebrating”.
Means of Grace – the sacraments are the “principal means
of sanctification and salvation”. They are both
ecclesiastical celebrations of worship and means of grace.
Contribution to Definition – a. as signs and means of
expressing and strengthening faith;
b. as actions of worship as well as sanctification and
c. as constitutive of the Church
Canon 841
“Since the sacraments are the same throughout the
universal Church, and belong to the divine deposit of
faith, only the supreme authority in the Church can
approve or define what is needed for their validity. It
belongs to the same authority, or to another
competent authority in accordance with can. 838 §§3
and 4, to determine what is required for their lawful
celebration, administration, and reception and for the
order to be observed in their celebration.”
 Requisites for Validity
Definition by Supreme Authority – a. the college of
bishops with the head; or
b. the Pope alone
Licitude – the lawful ministration, reception and order
of the sacraments depend on: a. the supreme
authority as mentioned above,
b. the conferences of bishops and
c. the diocesan bishops
 Catechetical Instructions
CCC 1210

“Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law.

There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation, the
Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy
Orders and Matrimony. 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
the resemblance between the stages of natural life and
the stages of the spiritual life.”
 Efficacy of the
Sacraments

The Sacraments
confer the grace they
signify. They are
efficacious because
in them Christ
Himself is at work: it
is he who acts in
order to
communicate the
grace that each
sacrament signifies.
 Scriptural Foundation
Baptism

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all that I have commanded you.”

- Matthew 28:19-20
Confirmation

“Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria

had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and
John, who came down and prayed for them that they
might receive the Holy Spirit; for it had not yet fallen on
any of them, but they had only been baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on
them and they received the Holy Spirit.”

- Acts 8:14-17
Eucharist

Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from

heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for
ever; …he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has
eternal life and…abides in me, and I in him.”

- John 6:51, 54, 56

Reconciliation

“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,
Jesus showed himself to his apostles. He breathed on
them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If
you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you
retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”

- John 20:19, 22-23

Anointing of the Sick

“Is any among you sick? Let him call for the presbyters
of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing
him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of
faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise
him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be
forgiven.”

- James 5:14-15
Matrimony

“St. Paul said, ‘Husbands, love your wives, as Christ

loved the Church…this is a great mystery, and I mean
in reference to Christ and the Church.’”

- Ephesians 5:25, 32
Holy Orders

“St. Paul said to his disciple Timothy: ‘I remind you to rekindle he gift of God
that is within you through the laying on of my hands.’”

 - 2 Timothy 1:6

“If any one aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task.”

 1 Timothy 3:1

 “To Titus he said, ‘This is why I left you in Crete, that you amend what was
defective, and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you.”

 - Titus 1:5
The Church affirms that the sacraments Ex opere operato:
act ex opere operato and not ex opere
By the very fact of
operantis. The Sacraments are not the action’s being
wrought by the righteousness of either performed
the celebrant or the recipient but by the
Ex opere operantis:
power of God. Nevertheless, the fruits
By the disposition of
of the sacraments depend on the
the one who acts or
disposition of the one who receives receives
them. (cf. CCC 1128)