What Are the Seven Holy Sacraments of the Catholic Church?
We are grateful to the catholic.com website for this succinct list of the Seven Holy Sacraments
Here is a complete list of the seven sacraments:
1. Baptism: the sacrament of regeneration, reception of the Holy Spirit, and incorporation into the Church. (Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation?)
2. Confirmation: the sacrament that strengthens and completes the grace received at baptism. (Confirmation in the Catholic Church)
3. Eucharist: the sacrament of offering anew the one sacrifice of Calvary, the New Covenant Passover, which includes reception of our Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. The Church affirms the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist; body, blood, soul, and divinity. (What Is the Eucharist?)
4. Reconciliation (aka Confession and Penance): the sacrament by which sins committed after baptism are forgiven through contrition, confession, and absolution. (What the Early Church Believed: Confession)
5. Anointing of the Sick: a sacrament conferring strength, forgiveness of sins, and healing graces appropriate to serious illness and/or proximate preparation for death. (Anointing of the Sick)
6. Holy Orders: the sacrament of apostolic ministry, exercised in three degrees: the diaconate, the ministerial priesthood, and the episcopacy or office of bishop, in which the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders is lived out (CCC 1555-1561; 1594). (What the Early Church Believed: Bishop, Priest, and Deacon)
7. Matrimony: the covenantal sacrament uniting husband and wife as a sign of Christ’s union with the Church. (What the Early Church Believed: Marriage)
Holy Scriptures Supporting the Holy Sacraments...
Baptism
‘Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptised and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”’
Luke chapter 3 verses 21-22 (ESV).
‘… “Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”’
Mark chapter 16 verse 16 (ESV - Jesus speaking).
Confirmation
‘Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.’
Acts chapter 8 verses 14-17 (ESV).
‘And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.’
Acts chapter 19 verse 6 (ESV).
Eucharist:
‘”Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.”’
John chapter 6 verses 54-55 (ESV – Jesus speaking).
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 27-29 (ESV).
Reconciliation (Confession)
‘And when [Jesus] had said this [to his disciples], he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”’
John chapter 20 verses 22-23 (ESV).
‘Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.’
James chapter 5 verse 16 (ESV).
Anointing of the Sick
‘And [the apostles] cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.’
Mark chapter 6 verse 13 (ESV).
’Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders 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 one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.’
James chapter 5 verses 14 to 15 (ESV).
Holy Orders
… And [the disciples] chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.’
Acts chapter 6 verses 5 to 7 (ESV).
The early Church Fathers (such as Bishop Ignatius of Antioch) had much to say about the importance of the three fold ministry of Bishop, Priest and Deacon….
“Now, therefore, it has been my privilege to see you in the person of your God-inspired bishop, Damas; and in the persons of your worthy presbyters, Bassus and Apollonius; and my fellow-servant, the deacon, Zotion. What a delight is his company! For he is subject to the bishop as to the grace of God, and to the presbytery as to the law of Jesus Christ.” Ignatius of Antioch - Letter to the Magnesians 2 [A.D. 110].
Matrimony
‘But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.’
Mark chapter 10 verses 6 to 8 (ESV - Jesus speaking).
‘Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…’
Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25 (ESV).