Pillar II — What We Celebrate
The Seven Sacraments
The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. Through ordinary things — water, oil, bread, wine, the laying on of hands — God does something extraordinary.
Becoming a Christian
Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist together lay the foundation of every Christian life.
Restoring what is broken
Penance and Anointing of the Sick bring Christ's healing to soul and body.
Sacraments of service
Holy Orders and Matrimony consecrate a person's life to the good of others.
Sacraments of Christian Initiation
Baptism, Confirmation & Eucharist
01Baptism+
Baptism is the door to life in the Spirit and the gateway to the other sacraments. Through water and the word — "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" — original sin is washed away, the baptized person is reborn as a child of God, incorporated into Christ and His Church, and made a sharer in the divine life.
What happens
Water is poured over the head (or the candidate is immersed) while the Trinitarian formula is spoken. The newly baptized is anointed with sacred chrism, clothed in a white garment symbolizing new life in Christ, and given a lit candle from the Paschal candle — a sign that they now carry the light of Christ into the world.
Why it matters
Christ Himself commanded it: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). St. Paul describes Baptism as dying and rising with Christ: "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead... we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).
02Confirmation+
Confirmation completes the grace of Baptism, sealing the believer with the gift of the Holy Spirit and binding them more perfectly to Christ and His Church. What Pentecost was for the apostles, Confirmation is for every Catholic: a strengthening for mission.
What happens
The bishop (or a delegated priest) extends his hands over the candidates, prays for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and anoints each one's forehead with sacred chrism in the sign of the cross, saying, "Be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit."
Why it matters
Confirmation increases the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit — wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord — first received at Baptism. It is meant to be a beginning of deeper formation, not an end of religious education, which is the very reason Catholic Academy exists.
03The Eucharist+
The Eucharist is, in the Church's own words, "the source and summit of the Christian life." At the Last Supper, Christ took bread and wine, said "This is my body... this is my blood," and commanded the apostles, "Do this in memory of me." At every Mass, through the words and actions of the priest acting in persona Christi, that same sacrifice is made present, and the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Christ.
What happens
The Mass unfolds in two great movements: the Liturgy of the Word, where Scripture is proclaimed and preached, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, where the gifts of bread and wine are consecrated and shared in Holy Communion.
Why it matters
Jesus was direct: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you... For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink" (John 6:53–55). Catholics believe this literally — not as a symbol, but as the Real Presence of Christ, received in faith at every Mass.
Sacraments of Healing
Penance & Anointing of the Sick
04Penance & Reconciliation+
In Confession, sins committed after Baptism are forgiven through the ministry of the priest, who acts in the person of Christ to absolve, reconcile, and restore the penitent to full communion with God and the Church.
What happens
The penitent confesses their sins honestly to a priest, expresses sorrow (contrition), receives a penance, and hears the words of absolution: "I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Everything said in confession is bound by the absolute seal of confidentiality.
Why it matters
On the evening of the Resurrection, Christ breathed on the apostles and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them" (John 20:22–23). Confession is not a formality — it is an encounter with the mercy of God, offered as often as it is needed.
05Anointing of the Sick+
Formerly called Extreme Unction, this sacrament brings the grace, strength, and — if it is God's will — the physical healing of Christ to those who are seriously ill, elderly, or facing surgery. It is not reserved only for the dying.
What happens
A priest anoints the forehead and hands of the sick person with blessed oil, praying that the Lord "free you from sin and every form of evil, raise you up, and strengthen you."
Why it matters
St. James instructs the early Church directly: "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man" (James 5:14–15). The sacrament unites suffering to the Passion of Christ, giving it redemptive meaning rather than leaving it empty.
Sacraments at the Service of Communion
Holy Orders & Matrimony
06Holy Orders+
Through Holy Orders, men are consecrated in Christ's name to serve the Church as deacons, priests, or bishops, continuing the mission Christ gave to the apostles.
What happens
The bishop lays hands on the candidate in silence and prays the prayer of consecration proper to each order — deacon, priest, or bishop — configuring the man sacramentally to Christ the Head and Servant of the Church.
Why it matters
Christ chose twelve apostles and gave them His own authority to teach, sanctify, and govern in His name: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" (John 20:21). That apostolic mission has been handed down, bishop to bishop, in an unbroken line to today — the priests who now baptize, absolve, and confect the Eucharist stand in that same line.
07Matrimony+
In Matrimony, a baptized man and woman form a covenant of total, faithful, and fruitful love, becoming an image of Christ's own union with the Church. Uniquely among the sacraments, the spouses themselves are the ministers; the priest or deacon serves as the Church's official witness.
What happens
The couple freely exchange vows of fidelity "until death do us part," open to life and to each other's good, before witnesses and the Church.
Why it matters
St. Paul calls marriage "a great mystery" that signifies "Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:32) — the husband's self-giving love mirrors Christ's, and the wife's response mirrors the Church's. A Catholic marriage is meant to be permanent, faithful, and open to children, because it images a love that does not waver.
A word of Scripture
"He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." John 6:56