'The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.'
Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1131
Sacraments of Initiation
Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist — the foundation of every Christian life. Through them the believer is born into Christ, sealed by His Spirit, and nourished by His Body.
Baptism
The gateway to the sacramental life — the new birth of water and the Spirit by which one becomes a child of God, a member of the Church, and an heir of heaven.
Confirmation
The sacrament that seals the baptized with the Gift of the Holy Spirit — strengthening the soul, perfecting baptismal grace, and configuring the Christian to bear witness to Christ in the world.
The Most Holy Eucharist
The source and summit of the Christian life — the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ truly, really, and substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine.
Sacraments of Healing
Penance and the Anointing of the Sick. The wounds of sin and the wounds of the body are healed by Christ through these sacraments.
Penance and Reconciliation
The sacrament by which the sins committed after Baptism are forgiven — through contrition, confession to a priest, absolution, and a penance accepted from the priest's hand.
Anointing of the Sick
The sacrament by which the sick — and especially those in danger of death — receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, strength against temptation, forgiveness of sin, and, if it serves their spiritual good, bodily healing.
Sacraments at the Service of Communion
Holy Orders and Matrimony. Ordered toward the salvation of others, these two sacraments confer a particular mission in the Church and serve to build up the People of God.
Holy Orders
The sacrament by which the mission Christ entrusted to His Apostles continues in the Church through bishops, priests, and deacons — configuring the man ordained to Christ as Head and Shepherd of His Body.
Matrimony
The covenant by which a baptized man and a baptized woman establish a partnership of their whole life — ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children — raised by Christ to the dignity of a sacrament.