Catholicism Part 3
Sunday, 21 July 2013 • 12:38 • 0 comments
Welcome back to our blog. In this post, I will be discussing about the sacraments in Catholicism.
In my previous blog post, I mentioned that there are seven sacraments that Catholics have to abide by. In this post, I will be elaborating each sacrament in detail.
Baptism
The word "baptism" came from the neuter Greek concept noun "baptisma", which represents a new doctrine to interpret sacred writings in the New Testament. It serves as the basis for all the other sacraments. Based on the Nicene Creed (a profession of faith or creed that is most widely used in Christian liturgy), Baptism seeks for forgiveness of the sins, including original sins, which transmits even in infants who have committed no actual sins. Baptism is done through a ceremonial immersion in water or application of water as an initiatory rite of the Catholic church. Baptism is also practiced in Christianity.
Confirmation / Chrismation
It is the second sacrament of Christian initiation, which refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is conferred by Baptism, being "strengthened and deepened". It is a separate rite from baptism and involves a period of education called catechesis, which is the Christian religious teaching of Christian children. It is usually conducted on Catholics and Christians who have reached the age of discretion (usually 7) or postponed till the person is able to make a mature independent profession of faith.
Eucharist
Eucharist, derived from the Greek noun of "thanksgiving", is the sacrament where devotees receive their ultimate "daily bread" by partaking of and in the Body and Blood of Jesus and participating in Christ's one eternal sacrifice. The bread and wine used in the rite are in the mystical action of the Holy Spirit, transformed to the Body and Blood of Christ based on Catholic faith.
Penance / Confession / Reconciliation
It is first of the two sacraments of healing, which requires spiritual healing of a baptized person from the distancing from God involved in actual sins committed. It requires sincere remorse for sin by the penitent, confession to a minister who has the ability to exercise the power to absolve the penitent. In the Roman Catholic church, penance also has a fourth element of satisfaction, which refers to signs of repentance imposed by the minister. Penitents are to perform a simple task to make some reparation and prevent the penitent from further sinning.
Anointing of The Sick / Unction
It is the second sacrament of healing. People who are suffering from an illness are anointed by a priest consecrated by a bishop. In the past when a restrictive interpretation was customary, it was known as "Extreme Unction" among traditionalist Catholics. It was then conferred as one of the "Last Rites" to be performed, which also include Penance and Eucharist.
Holy Orders
It is a sacrament which integrates someone into the Holy Order of bishops, priests and deacons. It gives the person the task to educate, sanctify and govern. Only bishops are allowed to administer this sacrament, since they hold the fullness of the Apostolic Ministry. Ordination as a bishop makes one a member of the body succeeding the Apostles, while ordination as a priest configures a person to Christ the Head of The Church and the essential priest acts as the bishop's assistant and vicar to preside at the celebration of divine worship and confect the sacrament of the Eucharist. Ordination as a deacon makes one to Christ the Servant of All in ministry of the Word, service in divine worship, pastoral guidance and charity. Deacons also have a chance to become priests.
Holy Matrimony
It is a sacrament involving the joining of a man and a woman for mutual help and love, devoting them for their particular duty to build up the Church and providing grace for the accomplishment of the duty. In Western traditions, the sacrament is being seen as conferred by the canonically expressed mutual consent of the partners in marriage. Eastern and some Western theologians view the blessing by a priest as integrating the sacramental action.
I have come to the end of today's post on Catholicism. Next week, I will be elaborating on the history of Catholicism.
References
Catholicism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism
Baptism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism
Nicene Creed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed
Baptism - Define Baptism at Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/baptism?__utma=1.314762734.1374374516.1374374516.1374374516.1&__utmb=1.11.9.1374375111771&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1374374516.1.1.utmcsr=%28direct%29|utmccn=%28direct%29|utmcmd=%28none%29&__utmv=-&__utmk=196156972
Catechism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catechism
Eucharist - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist
Contrition - Define Contrition at Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/contrition?s=t
- Chong You