Sacraments

Sacraments are sacred rituals in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. They are known as Mysteries in the Orthodox Churches.

Sacraments are efficacious signs, instituted by Christ to give grace. Simply put, the sacraments do what they represent. In other words, baptism not only symbolizes washing, it actually washes away sin.

There are seven sacraments in the Catholic Church: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick. In the Orthodox Churches, Confirmation is known as Chrismation. The Catholic Church sees in the Eucharist "the Source and Summit" of the faith.

You can find much written about the sacraments online. There are blogs dedicated to catechesis, apologetics, and evangelization. Other sites highlight the liturgical celebrations of the church calendar.

by Catholic Foodie Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Sacraments”

• Japanese First Christmas Included Jesuits

  
  Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit — Authority: 139
  CHRISTMAS IN JAPAN By JASMIN K. WILLIAMS December 19, 2007 -- How do you say Merry Christmas in Japan? Easy. Merry Christmas. THE big holiday in Japan is New Years Day. The Christmas holiday was introduced to Japan by the Europeans who arrived during the 16th century. It is not celebrated as a national or ...
  1 day ago

• Fordham Jesuit, "We are priests first of all"

  
  Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit — Authority: 139
  Like all of Fordham’s Jesuits, first and foremost they are Catholic priests. They are ordained to celebrate Mass in any parish in the New York Archdiocese and to administer sacraments that go with the title: marriages, penance, last rites, Holy Eucharist and more. That is why, when calls for assistance come from ...
  1 day ago

• Pay to Pray? Fascinating, If Bizarre, Lobbying Efforts

  
  Scelata — Authority: 135
  Christian Scientists and some friends in high places, (Sen John Kerry? talk about strange bed-fellows...) are seeking to have provisions in the health care reform, for those who pray for others health -- "professionally" -- to receive reimbursement from insurers, and by extension, the government. I am conflicted ...
  2 days ago

• Daily Scripture Readings Wednesday December 2 2009 First Week of Advent

  
  A Catholic Site — Authority: 130
  December 2 Wednesday First Week of Advent Saint of the Day – Blessed Rafal Chylinski About the sources used . The readings on this site are not official for the Mass of Roman Rite of the Catholic Church in the USA, but are from sources free from copyright. They are here to present the comparable readings ...
  3 days ago

• Mean Vatican Says Church Cant Be Used to Ordain Anglican Women

  
  Opinionated Catholic — Authority: 444
  Sometimes I really wonder what is happening in the Church "down Under". It seems the news is often very good but in some Diocese very bad. In this case the cherry on top is there bad reporting of the matter. Father Z has Australia: Holy See tells Catholic diocese not to host Anglican ordination of women I have ...
  4 days ago

• Discovering "My Catholic Marriage"

  
  The Deacon's Bench — Authority: 594
  With a little free time to explore today (!), I wandered over to For Your Marriage , the website on the sacrament set up a couple years ago by the USCCB. I visited there a few times when it first debuted, but it had fallen off my radar screen.  I was curious to see how its evolved. I was pleasantly surprised to ...
  5 days ago

• Is God really all that interested in our efforts to make Him our own?

  
  The Old Adam Lives! — Authority: 418
  I don’t think so.   I think He is busy trying to kill off our efforts. I think our efforts at making God our own are misguided at best and very damaging at worst. We are His own. He makes believers out of us. The person who believes he is still in charge needs to be killed off. That’s what God ...
  5 days ago

• Tabled

  
  JordonCooper.com — Authority: 432
  Joe Manafo has launched a wonderful resource exploring communion and worship called Tabled that you will want to spend some time exploring.
  6 days ago

• Canon Romanus

  
  Eirenikon — Authority: 119
  I’ve become a big fan of Fr John Hunwicke , a Church of England priest of the staunch Anglo-Papalist type (a subset of High Church Anglicans with a definite Romeward orientation) who also shows a high degree of interest in Eastern Christianity. A recent series of posts at his blog, concerning the opening prayer ...
  1 week ago

• Patrick Kennedy Communion Controversy For Dummies

  
  Opinionated Catholic — Authority: 444
  This story , largely through the miscommunication of Kennedy himself, got misreported from the start. There are two Canons of Canon Laws at play here. Canon 915 deals with an actual ban on Holy Communion. This is administered by an authority. Canon 916 instructs certain people not to present ...
  1 week ago

• Seeing It All Over Again

  
  Jesus Goes to Disney World — Authority: 419
  Years ago, I recall seeing an episode of the original Star Trek in which the Enterprise encounters a planet with a peculiar Roman civilization. An old Starfleet captain had taken over, and there was a slave uprising against him. I am no trekkie , but for those who are (as if I need to tell you!), the episode ...
  1 week ago

• Rep. Patrick Kennedy Banned Fom Receiving Kennedy In His Diocese

  
  Opinionated Catholic — Authority: 444
  This I guess is just breaking a tad. This will get interesting. Creative Minority Report has Bp. Tobin Bans Kennedy From Communion Unless I am totally out to lunch on this I dont think this affects Kennedy in other Dioceses. I always thought that needed to be changed but that is the state of affairs under the law. ...
  1 week ago

• The Sacred Seal of Confession

  
  Adoro te Devote — Authority: 422
  Fr. Z. has a post and commentary on a Zenit article about the Seal of the Confession on trial. Whats so chilling about this is that one of the things we hold most sacred really IS being attacked, more and more, in our society. In summary, the case in question is especially appalling, because it surrounds the ...
  1 week ago

• 22,000 Youth March With Blessed Sacrament In Kansas City

  
  Opinionated Catholic — Authority: 444
  Wow. More pics here at Pics - 22,000 Youth in Eucharistic Procession through Kansas City at NCYC
  1 week ago

• Sunday before Advent

  
  The Continuum — Authority: 131
  Jeremiah 23:5-8 John 6:11-14 It may seem bold to say this: Miracles look perfectly natural to the eye, even though the rational mind perceives the impossibility of what is happening. When I saw the miracles of a deformed shoulder straightened instantly, and of my mothers spine healed within seconds, these miracles ...
  1 week ago

• Q & A on Apostolic Succession

  
  The Continuum — Authority: 131
  I was sent a behind the scenes email with questions about Apostolic Succession. Upon considering my answers, I thought it may be helpful for some if I post here a summary of the questions, and my answers. This may be read in connection with an essay about Apostolic Succession and Scripture posted back on August 8, ...
  2 weeks ago

• This Eucharistic PEZ machine Is Just Sacrilegious

  
  Opinionated Catholic — Authority: 444
  Oh Lord. Father Z has Ohhhhhh… no. That’s just… wrong! . I love what this comment said: A sterile “dispenser” for a sterile faith. Hopefully this will never appear in a Catholic Parish.
  2 weeks ago

• Soaked, Scrubbed, & Washed in Christ’s Blood

  
  Lutheran Kantor — Authority: 104
  When your pastor says “Amen” at the close of his sermon, are you soaked in Christ’s blood? Rev. Steven Cholak wrote a blog post for Concordia TheoBLOGical Seminary in April 2008 about pastors soaking their flock with Christ’s blood as they preach Christ and the forgiveness of sins.  It is a short essay I ...
  2 weeks ago

• Assurance is Found at the Table

  
  caf de soire — Authority: 460
  When talking about the assurance of salvation, we often look to Scripture for the promises of Gods faithfulness, such as we find in Romans 10:9, or we point to the work of the Holy Spirit in assuring us of our faith (see Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 21 ). Yet, especially in Reformed circles, we seldom mention the ...
  2 weeks ago

• Abp. John Nienstedt: Changes in the language of the liturgy

  
  Stella Borealis Catholic Roundtable — Authority: 136
  . One of the principal goals of the Second Vatican Council was to initiate a reform of the Sacred Liturgy. The goal of this reform was not a matter of simply revising texts. Even less was it a matter of abandoning the treasured traditions of the past. Rather, at its heart, the liturgical reform of the council was a ...
  2 weeks ago

Comments about Sacraments