St. Patrick Roman Catholic Parish
A Pennsylvania Charitable Trust
We recognize that the Sacraments have a visible and invisible
reality, a reality open to all the human senses but grasped
in its
God-given depths with the eyes of faith. When parents hug their
children, for example, the visible reality we see is the
hug. The
invisible reality the hug conveys is love. We cannot "see" the love the
hug expresses, though sometimes we can
see its nurturing effect in the
child.
The visible reality we see in the Sacraments is their outward
expression, the form they take, and the way in which they are
administered and received. The invisible reality we cannot "see" is
God's grace, His gracious initiative in redeeming us
through the death
and Resurrection of his Son. His initiative is called grace
because it is the free and loving gift by which
he offers people a share
in his life, and shows us his favor and will for our salvation. Our
response to the grace of God's
initiative is itself a grace or gift from
God by which we can imitate Christ in our daily lives.
The saving words and deeds of Jesus Christ are the foundation of
what he would communicate in the Sacraments through
the ministers of the
Church. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church recognizes the existence
of Seven Sacraments instituted
by the Lord. They are the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist), the Sacraments of Healing
(Penance and the Anointing of the Sick), and the Sacraments at the Service of Communion (Marriage and Holy Orders).
Through the Sacraments, God shares his holiness with us so that we, in turn, can make the world holier.
From The Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops Webpage: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/sacraments/ ______________________________________________________________________________________________