Lesson 6
What are the “rituals” of the Sacraments?
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Since the Sacraments are a gift from Jesus Christ to His Church, and since the Catholic Church has the sole authority over the Sacraments, each minister of the Sacrament must follow the “rite” for the Sacrament. He cannot make up the words and actions by himself but must follow what has been established by the Church.
Accordingly, each sacrament has its own ritual, and each ritual can be found in a book, and that book is usually kept in the Sacristy of your local Catholic Church. The books are as follows:
- The Ritual for Baptism
- The Ritual for the Holy Eucharist – It is called the “Roman Missal” and if you have been following Relevant Radio for a couple of years, you’ve probably already watched and read our very popular series “40 Lenten Lessons on the Mass.”
- The Ritual for Marriage
- The Ritual for the Anointing of the Sick
- The Ritual for Confession
- And the rituals for Confirmation and Holy Orders are not normally kept in the Parish Church because only the bishop can Administer those sacraments, so he has them.
Each ritual book usually offers a variety of options, and the Sacraments will be valid in any language in which they are celebrated, either in Latin or the Vernacular, which is a fancy way of saying “in the language you speak”, and for most of us that’s English!
These ritual books are usually very well printed. They are not inexpensive and usually last a long time, but over time they get worn out, and that’s a good thing because that means people are using them.
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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