Sacraments are outward signs instituted by Christ, and entrusted to the Church, to give grace.

The sacraments are efficacious (effective) signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.  The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament.  Sacraments are “powers that comes forth” from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving.(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1116)

The Church has never wavered in its belief that the seven sacraments are not something invented by popes and bishops, but are an authentic teaching handed down to his apostles by Jesus Christ.

The seven sacraments are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist (Sacraments of Initiation), Matrimony, Holy Orders (Sacraments of Service), Reconciliation, and Anointing of the Sick (Sacraments of Healing).

“The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life; they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian’s life of faith.  There is a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1210)