Lesson 3
What kind of Sacraments are there and how many?
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The old Catechism of the Catholic Church listed the Sacraments as either “Sacraments of the Living or Sacraments of the Dead.” The Sacraments of the Living could only be worthily received if you were in the State of Grace, while the Sacraments of the Dead were those for souls not in the State of Grace: Baptism and Confession and Anointing of the Sick if they were unconscious.
The new Catechism of the Catholic Church from 1992, and the Pontificate of St. John Paul II, now uses three categories: the Sacraments of Initiation; the Sacraments of Healing; and the Sacraments at the Service of the Communion.
There are three Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist. These three Sacraments should be received when you are young and just getting started in the Christian Life.
The two Sacraments of Healing are Confession – also known as Reconciliation or Penance – and the Anointing of the Sick. A good confession can heal the soul and restore it to the life of Grace, and the Anointing of the Sick can do the same, and sometimes leads to recovery of health, at least for a period of time.
Finally, the two Sacraments at the Service of Communion are Matrimony and Holy Orders, both of which provide Sacramental Grace to allow those who receive them to be of service to others. In the case of Matrimony, the spouses are capacitated by grace to be of greater service to each other and their children, while the sacrament of Holy Orders capacitates a man to die to himself, like Jesus on the Cross, and to be of service to everyone.
And finally, if you have been counting and paying attention, there are a total of Seven Sacraments. And I like to say that “seven” is a very Catholic number: There are seven sacraments; seven days of creation; seven corporal works of mercy; seven spiritual works of mercy, and seven gifts of the Holy Spirit!
So tune in every day of Lent to learn more about your Catholic faith, because if you Learn it, then you can Live it; and if you Live it, you will Love it; and if you Love it, you will never Leave it!
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