Category Archives: Sacraments
Sacraments
There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Penance, Holy Eucharist, Holy Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction. All are outward signs instituted by Jesus Christ for the bestowal of sanctifying grace. Five of these sacraments must never be approached unless the recipient’s soul is free of mortal sin and in the state of grace. They are called sacraments of the living. Although technically the two remaining, Baptism and Penance, are called sacraments of the dead, Penance can be received by a penitent who is in the state of grace. It was instituted primarily for those who have fallen into serious sin after Baptism, but it can also be effective in lessening the penitent’s attachment to venial sin and in reducing the punishment due to sin in purgatory.
Each of the sacraments has its own special spiritual effect. With three of them, Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, an indelible mark, called a character, is imprinted forever on our soul. And, as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, each of the seven correspond to the natural life of a man. Baptism, our rebirth in the Spirit as children of God, corresponds to our physical birth. Confirmation, which makes us soldiers of Christ and strengthens us in the Holy Ghost as mature members of the Church, corresponds to our physical maturation as leaving behind childhood and becoming young adult men and women. We are anointed with oil as are wrestlers who must do battle against the devil in the ring of life. Penance, in which sacrament the sickness caused by sin is forgiven, corresponds to the medicinal aid we receive when our bodies are ill. The priest is our doctor. Holy Eucharist, our spiritual Food so necessary for the soul, corresponds to the physical food necessary for the body. Holy Orders, the sacrament deputing one to the ministry of the three major orders of the priesthood, corresponds to our deputation in society, first as parents, then as leaders in government. Matrimony, which existed as an institution from the beginning with Adam and Eve, for the procreation of the race, was elevated as a grace-conferring sacrament by Christ Himself. Extreme Unction, also called the sacrament of the sick or annointing, is our spiritual final anointing to strengthen us for the final passage from this life to the next.
Give Us This Day Our Supersubstantial Bread
In his weekly column for the Washington DC Archdiocesan website, Monsignor Charles Pope raises the question of the meaning of the word used by Saints Matthew and Luke in the petition for “our daily bread” in the Our Father prayer.
Posted in Columns, Holy Scripture, Sacraments 1 Comment
Dean of Roman Rota Calls for Reform of Easy Annulments
Catholic Culture: Speaking at a conference in Rome, the dean of the Roman Rota suggested the need for a more rigorous interpretation of a provision in canon law that is cited in many annulment cases. Read more here.
Cardinal Ranjith Reiterates that Communicants Receive Kneeling and on the Tongue
Rorate Caeli: As reported last year on Rorate the Archbishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, has restored in his archdiocese the practice of communion on the tongue only and while kneeling. Last month, on the Feast of St. Joseph, he reiterated in an address to his clergy that this manner of receiving communion is mandatory for all of the faithful in his … More →
Summorum Pontificum Finally Implemented by Bishop of England and Wales
Here’s a photograph to gladden the heart of any traditional Catholic and to give The Tablet’s Bobbie Mickens a fit of the vapours. The prelate wearing that magnificent mitre is a bishop of England and Wales, believe it or not, presiding at a solemn Latin Mass to mark the re-opening of a parish where the worship will be in the Extraordinary Form. More than a … More →
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Alan Keyes’ Insight on the Case of Father Marcel Guarnizo
In protecting the Sublime Dignity of the Sacred Body of Christ and the woman herself from harming her own soul further by sacrilege, Mr. Keyes points out that Father Guarnizo’s action also protected the integrity and holiness of the Mystical Body, which is wounded by all the unrepentant sins of bad Catholics but especially by sins of public sacrilege and sins of compliance in sacrilege … More →
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Bishop Schneider: Communion in the Hand Is an Abuse Popularized by the ‘Devilish’ John Calvin
The Eponymous Flower: This is what Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider (50) of Astana in Kazakhstan said at the end of October for the videosite ‘gloria.tv’. Read more here.
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Eucharistic Adoration Growing Devotion in Lebanon
A group of Lebanese lay Catholics have formed a group called New Creation, with the objective of fostering devotion to Jesus. They took their name from a phrase in the Second Letter to the Corinthians: “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation,” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Read more here.
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Melkite Catholic Bishop Will Begin Ordaining Married Men in US Due to Priest Shortage
There are four things to remember regarding married priests. 1) In the Eastern Rite married men could always be ordained as parish priests. 2) In neither the Eastern Catholic Church nor the West could a priest get married after ordination. 3) A married priest cannot be consecrated a bishop if his wife is living. 4) Married Protestant ministers who convert to Catholicism can be ordained … More →
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Irish Government Leaders Challenging the Seal of Confession in New Legislation
Catholic Culture: Irish government leaders have insisted that they will not allow the secrecy of the confessional to limit the scope of new legislation that would require reporting of all complaints of child abuse. “The law of the land should not be stopped by a crozier or a collar,” Prime Minister Enda Kenny said. Read more here.
Patriarch of Lisbon Misleads Faithful With Statement Affirming Possible Validity for Women’s Ordinations
Vatican Insider: Cardinal Jose da Cruz Policarpo: There will be women a priest «when God wills», for the moment it is better «not to raise the issue». But there is «no fundamental obstacle», from «a theological perspective», for women to say mass on the altar. It is, instead, a «tradition» that dates back from the time of Jesus. This was said by Cardinal Jose da … More →
Pope Speaks of Union in the Eucharist and Christ “Binding” Himself to the Church and Her Ministers
This is a clip from the Holy Fathers Holy Thursday sermon: “We too, all of us, need to learn again to accept God and Jesus Christ as he is, and not the way we want him to be,” the Pope added. “We too find it hard to accept that he bound himself to the limitations of his Church and her ministers. We too do not … More →
Marriage in a Catholic Church Is a Right Only If Couple Believe in Sacrament’s Call to Holiness
Pope Benedict XVI Saturday Address: Getting married in church is a right only if you believe in “true marriage” that is, an act for the realization of the “integral good, human and Christian, of the spouses and of their future children, ultimately projected towards the holiness of their lives”. From here, follows the importance of preparation for Christian marriage, also to avoid annulments, which were … More →
Eucharist Stories
[Taken from The Catechist, by the Very Rev. Canon Howe. Imprimatur: Edm. Canonicus Surmount, Jan 26, 1922.] There once lived a man who had given himself up to every passion, and had become by his life a scandal to all who knew him. Being at length upon his death-bed, his family, who were good Catholics, sent for the priest, who heard the sick man’s confession, … More →
“I Am With You Always” and Again “The Son of Man Shall Come”
Il reviendra avec son coeur immense, avec son coeur de flamme, son âme de pauvre et son sourire. Il reviendra ! Et le Coeur Immaculé de Marie triomphera! I love this motto from the late Abbé de Nantes’ periodical for La Contre-Réforme catholique au XXIe siècle. In the English translation it reads: “He will come again with his immense heart, with His heart of fire, … More →
