A sacrament is a sacred Christian rite recognized as of particular importance and significance.

There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the sacraments as "efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear [1] fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions." The catechism included in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer defines a sacrament as "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof." Some Protestant traditions avoid the word "sacrament". Reaction against the 19th-century Oxford [2] Movement led Baptists to prefer instead the word "ordinance", practices ordained by Christ to be permanently observed by the church. "Sacrament" stresses mainly, but not solely, what God does, [3] "ordinance" what the Christians do. The Catholic Church and Oriental Orthodoxy teach that the sacraments are seven. The Eastern Orthodox Church also believes that there are seven major sacraments, but applies the corresponding Greek word, (mysterion) also to rites that in the Western tradition are [7][8] called sacramentals and to other realities, such as the Church itself. Similarly, the Catholic Church understands the word "sacrament" as referring not only to the seven sacraments considered here, but [9] also to Christ and the Church. Anglican teaching is that "there are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord", and that "those five commonly called Sacraments, that is to say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, are [10] not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel".
Contents
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1 Roman Catholic teaching 2 Eastern and Oriental Orthodox teaching 3 Anglican teaching 4 Lutheran teaching 5 Reformed teaching 6 Teachings of other Christian traditions

6.1 Latter Day Saints

6.1.1 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) 6.1.2 Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)

6.2 Non-sacramental churches

7 References 8 External links

Roman Catholic teaching[edit]

Main article: Sacraments of the Catholic Church

The Seven Sacraments by Rogier van der Weyden, ca. 1448.

The following are the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, here listed in the order given in [11] the Catechism: Baptism (Christening) Confirmation (Chrismation) Holy Eucharist Penance (Confession) Anointing of the Sick (known prior to the Second Vatican Council as Extreme Unction (or more literally from Latin: Last Anointing), then seen as part of the "Last Rites") Holy Orders Matrimony (Marriage)

In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, "the sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear [12] fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions." The Church teaches that the effect of the sacraments comes ex opere operato, by the very fact of being [13] administered, regardless of the personal holiness of the minister administering it. However, as indicated in this definition of the sacraments given by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a recipient's own lack of proper disposition to receive the grace conveyed can block a sacrament's effectiveness in that person. The sacraments presuppose faith and through their words and ritual elements, nourish, [14] strengthen and give expression to faith. Though not every individual has to receive every sacrament, the Church affirms that, for believers as a whole, the sacraments are necessary for salvation, as the modes of grace divinely instituted [15] by Christ himself. Through each of them, Christ bestows that sacrament's particular grace, such as incorporation into Christ and the Church, forgiveness of sins, or consecration for a particular service.

Eastern and Oriental Orthodox teaching[edit]

Main article: Sacred Mysteries

See also: Eastern Orthodoxy Mysteries The seven sacraments are also accepted by Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, but the Eastern Orthodox tradition does not limit the number of sacraments to seven, holding that anything the Church does as Church is in some sense sacramental. However it recognizes these seven as "the [20][21] major sacraments", which are completed by many other blessings and special services. Some lists of the sacraments taken from the Church Fathers include the Consecration of a [22] Church, Monastic Tonsure, and the Burial of the Dead. More specifically, for theEastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christian the term sacrament is a term which seeks to classify something that may, according to Orthodox thought, be impossible to classify. The Orthodox communion's preferred term is Sacred Mystery. While the Catholic Church has attempted to dogmatically define the sacraments, and discover the precise moment when the act results in the manifestation of the grace of God, the Orthodox communion has refrained from attempting to determine absolutely the exact form, number and effect of the sacraments, accepting simply that these elements are unknowable to all except God. According to Orthodox thinking God touches mankind through material means such as water, wine, bread, oil, incense, candles, altars, icons, etc. How God does this is a mystery. On a broad level, the mysteries are an affirmation of the goodness of created matter, and are an emphatic declaration of what that matter was originally created to be. Despite this broad view, Orthodox divines do write about there being seven "principal" mysteries. On a specific level, while not systematically limiting the mysteries to seven, the most profound Mystery is the Eucharist or Synaxis, in which the partakers, by participation in the liturgy and receiving the consecrated bread and wine (understood to have become the body and blood of Christ) directly communicate with God. This differs from the Catholic view of transubstantiation in that the Orthodox don't claim to understand how exactly this happens, but merely state "This appears to in the form of bread and wine, but God has told me it is His Body and Blood. I will take what He says as a 'mystery' and not attempt to [23] rationalize it to my limited mind". The emphasis on mystery is characteristic of Orthodox theology, and is often called apophatic, meaning that any and all positive statements about God and other theological matters must be balanced by negative statements. For example, while it is correct and appropriate to say that "God exists", or even that "God is the only Being which truly exists", such statements must be [citation understood to also convey the idea that God transcends what is usually meant by the term "to exist".
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Anglican teaching[edit]
Main article: Anglican sacraments Anglican sacramental theology reflects its dual roots in the Catholic tradition and the Reformation. The Catholic heritage is perhaps most strongly asserted in the importance Anglicanism places on the sacraments as a means of grace and sanctification while the Protestant tradition has contributed a marked insistent on "lively faith" and "worthy reception". Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians participating in an Anglican/Roman Catholic Joint Preparatory Commission declared that they had [24] "reached substantial agreement on the doctrine of the Eucharist". Article XXV recognises only two sacraments (Baptism and the Supper of the Lord) since these are the only ones ordained by Christ in the Gospel. The article continues stating that "Those five commonly called Sacraments ... are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel ....but have not the like nature of Sacraments with Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained
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by God." These phrases have led to a debate as to whether the five are to be called sacraments or not. A recent author writes that the Anglican Church gives "sacramental value to the other five recognised by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches .... " but these "do not reveal those essential aspects of [26] redemption to which Baptism and Communion point." Some Anglicans maintain that the use of "commonly" implies that the others can legitimately be called sacraments (perhaps more exactly "Sacraments of the Church" as opposed to "Sacraments of the Gospel"); others object that at the time the Articles were written "commonly" meant "inaccurately" and point out that the Prayer Book refers to the creeds "commonly called the Apostles' Creed" and the "Athanasian" where both attributions are [27] historically incorrect. Anglicans are also divided as to the effects of the sacraments. Some hold views similar to the Roman Catholic ex opere operato theory, that is that when the outward ceremony is duly performed the inward grace is necessarily given unless the recipient puts some obstacle in the way ( non ponere [29] obicem). Article XXVI (entitled Of the unworthiness of ministers which hinders not the effect of the Sacrament) states that the "ministration of the Word and Sacraments" is not done in the name of the minister, "neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness," since the sacraments have their effect "because of Christ's intention and promise, although they be ministered by evil men." As in Roman Catholic theology, the worthiness or unworthiness of the recipient is of great importance. Article XXV states: "And in such only as worthily receive the [sacraments], they have a wholesome effect and operation: but they that receive them unworthily purchase to themselves [30] damnation,..." and Article XXVIII on the Lord's Supper affirms "to such as rightly, worthily, and with [31] faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ;..." In the Exhortations of the Prayer Book rite, the worthy communicant is bidden to "prepare himself by examination of conscience, repentance and amendment of life and above all to ensure that he is in love [32] and charity with his neighbours" and those who are not "are warned to withdraw". This particular question was fiercely debated in the 19th century arguments over Baptismal [33] Regeneration
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