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FUNDAMENTALS OF FAITH 3
Second Semester │ SY 2021-2022

SACRAMENTS
Lesson 4

What are SACRAMENTS?

- Traditionally, Sacraments are defined as “sensible signs, instituted by Christ, to

give grace.”
- According to the Catechism for Filipino Catholics (CFC): A sacrament is a saving
symbolic act or a visible sign, arising from the ministry of Christ and continued
in, by and for the Church, which, when received in faith, fashion us into likeness
to Christ in his Paschal Mystery, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ: The Primordial Sacrament

- He is the Sacrament of God’s love to men and man’s response to God.

- He is the fullest expression of all the Sacraments.
- He is the central and decisive event in the whole history of salvation.
- He is the realization of God’s plan of love, His purpose of grace, in spite of sin, to
call men to perfect communion with Him.
- He became the sensible, visible and public form of God’s self-communication of
love and grace.
- He is therefore the source, primary agent and goal of all sacramental activities.

If Jesus Christ is the Primordial Sacrament, it necessarily means that the Seven Ritual
Sacraments…
- Arise from the Saving Ministry of Christ.
- Are continued in, by and for the Church.
- Form us in likeness to Christ in the Paschal Mystery.

Church: The Basic or Fundamental Sacrament (CFC 1517)

- By her relationship with Christ, The Church is both a sacramental sign and an
instrument of intimate union with God, and of the unity of all mankind. (GS 42)
- The Church continues the ministries of Jesus through the sacraments

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THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE CHURCH’S SACRAMENTS

1. The Sacraments are instituted by Jesus Christ

- “Adhering to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, to the apostolic traditions, and to the
consensus . . . of the Fathers, we profess that the sacraments of the new law were . . . all
instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
- Sacraments are “powers that comes forth” from the Body of Christ, which is
ever-living and life-giving.
- The Sacraments are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in the Body of Christ, the
Church.
- They are “the masterworks of God” in the new and everlasting covenant.

2. The Sacraments are for the Church

- The sacraments are “of the Church” in the double sense that they are “by her”
and “for her.”
o They are “by the Church” for she is the sacrament of Christ's action at
work in her through the mission of the Holy Spirit.
o They are “for the Church” in the sense that “the sacraments make the
Church,” since they manifest and communicate to men, above all in the
Eucharist, the mystery of communion with the God who is love, One in
three persons.

3. The Sacraments are for the Sanctification of All

- The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to build up the Body of Christ
and, finally, to give worship to God. Because they are signs they also instruct.
- They not only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish,
strengthen, and express it. That is why they are called ‘sacraments of faith’.

4. The Sacraments are necessary for Salvation

- Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify.
They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is he who
baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that
each sacrament signifies.
- The sacraments work ex opere operato (literally: "by the very fact of the action's
being performed"), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once

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for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the
celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God.”
- “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.

5. The Sacraments of Eternal Life

- In the celebration of the Sacraments we, believe the Church already receives the
guarantee of her inheritance and even now shares in everlasting life. The
sacraments are celebrated in anticipation of eternal happiness. They unite us
with the Holy Trinity.

THE 7 RITUAL SACRAMENTS

The Seven Ritual Sacraments are “actions of Christ and of the Church which unite us to
Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and incorporate us into his Body, the Church.”

- BAPTISM
- CONFIRMATION (Chrismation )
- THE EUCHARIST
- PENANCE
- THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK
- HOLY ORDERS
- MATRIMONY

Matter and Form of the Sacramental Sign

• Matter is the material and sensible action or gesture.

• Form is the accompanying words that declare the special meaning of that
external action or gesture.

WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR A VALID SACRAMENT?

• Valid matter - i.e., “the right stuff.” For instance, the Eucharist must be made of
wheat bread and grape wine, and Baptism must be in water.

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• Valid form - The essential words cannot be changed: for instance, “This is my
body…this is my blood” and “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
• Valid intention - The intention to do what the Church does.
• Valid minister – the qualified ordinary and/or extraordinary ministers of
Sacraments. For instance, the Sacrament of Holy Orders must be administered by
a Bishop.

A. SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION

1. BAPTISM

- Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in Spirit,
and the door which gives access to other Sacraments. (CCC 1213)
- Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.
- Also called “, the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit”
- The essential rite of Baptism is consists in immersing the candidate in water or
pouring water on his head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most Holy
Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Effects of Baptism

- Forgiveness of original sin and all personal sin

- Birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father
- Becoming a part of Christ’s body

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- Becoming a temple of the Holy Spirit

- Incorporation into the Church
- Made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ
❖ Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which
consecrates the baptized person for Christian world.

2. 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. (CCC 1285)
- It is called Chrismation (in the Eastern Churches: Anointing with holy myron or
chrism) because the essential rite of the sacrament is anointing with chrism.
- It is called Confirmation because it confirms and strengthens baptismal grace.

Effects of Confirmation

- The effect of Confirmation is a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit like that of
Pentecost.
- This outpouring impresses on the soul an indelible character and produces a
growth in the grace of Baptism.
- It roots the recipient more deeply in divine sonship, binds him more firmly to
Christ and to the Church and reinvigorates the gifts of the Holy Spirit in his soul.
- It gives a special strength to witness to the Christian faith.

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3. HOLY EUCHARIST

- The Eucharist is the very sacrifice of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus which
he instituted to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until his
return in glory. Thus he entrusted to his Church this memorial of his death and
Resurrection.
- It is 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.

Effects of the Eucharist

- Increases our union with Christ and with his Church;

- Nourishment of spiritual life;
- Medicine of immortality,
- Separation from sin, removal of venial sin,
- Spiritual strength
- Union of the Body into One
- Strengthens us in charity (CCC 1391-1401)

N.B. Transubstantiation means the change of the whole substance of bread into the
substance of the Body of Christ and of the whole substance of wine into the substance of
his Blood. This change is brought about in the eucharistic prayer through the efficacy of
the word of Christ and by the action of the Holy Spirit. However, the outward
characteristics of bread and wine, that is the “eucharistic species”, remain unaltered.

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B. SACRAMENTS OF HEALING

4. RECONCILIATION

- 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.

Acts of Penitent
- contrition (or repentance), examination of conscience;
- confession
- satisfaction or the carrying out of certain acts of penance

Which sins must be confessed?

- All grave sins not yet confessed.
- The confession of venial sins is also strongly recommended by the Church, even if this is
not strictly necessary.

Is a confessor bound to secrecy?

- Given the delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to people every
confessor, without any exception and under very severe penalties, is bound to maintain
“the sacramental seal” which means absolute secrecy about the sins revealed to him in
confession

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Effects of Reconciliation

- Reconciliation with God and therefore the forgiveness of sins;

- Reconciliation with the Church;
- Recovery, if it has been lost, of the state of grace;
- Remission of the eternal punishment merited by mortal sins, and
- Remission, at least in part, of the temporal punishment which is the consequence
of sin;
- Peace, serenity of conscience and spiritual consolation; and
- An increase of spiritual strength for the struggle of Christian living (CCC 1468-
1470 , 1496 )

Indulgences (CCC 1471-1479, 1498)

- Indulgences are the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to
sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.
- The faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains the indulgence under
prescribed conditions for either himself or the departed. Indulgences are granted
through the ministry of the Church which, as the dispenser of the grace of
redemption, distributes the treasury of the merits of Christ and the Saints.

5. ANOINTING OF THE SICK

- Having received from the Lord the charge to heal the sick, the Church strives to
carry it out by taking care of the sick and accompanying them with her prayer of
intercession. Above all, the Church possesses a sacrament specifically intended
for the benefit of the sick. (CCC 1506-1513,1526-1527)

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Effects of the Anointing of the Sick

- Confers a special grace which unites the sick person more intimately to the
Passion of Christ for his good and for the good of all the Church
- It gives comfort, peace, courage, and even the forgiveness of sins if the sick
person is not able to make a confession.
- Sometimes, if it is the will of God, this sacrament even brings about the
restoration of physical health.
- In any case this Anointing prepares the sick person for the journey to the Father’s
House. *Viaticum - Holy Eucharist received by those who are about to leave this
earthly life and are preparing for the journey to eternal life.

C. SACRAMENTS AT THE SERVICE OF COMMUNION AND MISSION

6. HOLY ORDERS

- It 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. (CCC 1536)
- This sacrament yields a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit which configures
the recipient to Christ in his triple office as Priest, Prophet, and King, according
to the respective degrees of the sacrament.

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Effects of the Holy Orders

- Episcopal ordination (Episcopate)- confers the fullness of the sacrament of Holy

Orders. It makes the bishop a legitimate successor of the apostles and integrates
him into the episcopal college to share with the Pope and the other bishops care
for all the churches

- Ordination to priesthood (Presbyterate) - As a co-worker of the order of bishops

he is consecrated to preach the Gospel, to celebrate divine worship, especially the
Eucharist from which his ministry draws its strength, and to be a shepherd of the
faithful.

- Ordination to Diaconate - The deacon, configured to Christ the servant of all, is

ordained for service to the Church. He carries out this service under the
authority of his proper bishop by the ministry of the Word, of divine worship, of
pastoral care and of charity.

7. MATRIMONY

- Christ not only restored the original order of matrimony but raised it to the
dignity of a sacrament, giving spouses a special grace to live out their marriage
as a symbol of Christ’s love for his bride the Church: “Husbands, love your
wives as Christ loves the Church” (Ephesians 5:25). (CCC 1612-1617)

Matrimonial Consent (CCC 1662-1663)

- Matrimonial consent is given when a man and a woman manifest the will to give
themselves to each other irrevocably in order to live a covenant of faithful and
fruitful love.

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Effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony

- The sacrament of Matrimony establishes a perpetual and exclusive bond between

the spouses. God himself seals the consent of the spouses. Therefore, a marriage
which is ratified and consummated between baptized persons can never be
dissolved.
- Furthermore, this sacrament bestows upon the spouses the grace necessary to
attain holiness in their married life and to accept responsibly the gift of children
and provide for their education.(CCC 1638-1642)

Domestic Church - The Christian family is called the domestic church because
the family manifests and lives out the communal and familial nature of the
Church as the family of God.

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