A Sacrament is a worldly reality which reveals to us the mystery of our salvation. Through sign, word and gesture it makes real that which it signifies.

It was St. Augustine of Hippo who first said that Jesus Christ is the first sacrament and it is He who is the source of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church.

• A sacrament is always performed in the name of Jesus Christ.
• All sacraments are the work of the Holy Spirit and are both a gift and a call.
• Sacraments are to be found at the heart of human life and since they continue the mission of Jesus, they reveal the face of God to our world.

The sacraments are not to be seen as something magical but as events which awaken and strengthen our faith and whose efficacy are effected by our co-operation. To receive them efficaciously, therefore, the recipient must be in a graceful state before Almighty God. It was the Second Vatican Council who described the sacraments in the following way:

"Not only do the sacraments presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also nourish, strengthen, and express it. That is why they are called 'sacraments of faith.'" (Const. on the Sacred Liturgy, 59).

In his letter to the Bishops' Conference of Latin America (Osservatore Romano 16 August 1977). Cardinal Villot said:

"The sacrament, as a sacrament of faith, requires a preliminary evangelisation which prepares the faith of the one who is to receive it to be in a position to understand it, to live it out, and to translate it into reality" (Const. on the Sacred Liturgy, 59).

The Seven Sacraments are:

1. Sacrament of Baptism
2. Sacrament of Confirmation
3. Sacrament of the Eucharist
4. Sacrament of Penance & Reconcilliation / Confession
5. Sacrament of the Sick / Last Rites
6. Sacrament of Holy Orders
7. Sacrament of Matrimony

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