Title: The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church | Britannica
Headings: The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church
The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church
Baptism
Eucharist
Confirmation
Reconciliation
Anointing of the Sick
Marriage
Ordination

Content: The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church | Britannica
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The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church
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The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church
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Melissa Petruzzello
Melissa Petruzzello is Assistant Editor of Plant and Environmental Science and covers a range of content from plants, algae, and fungi, to renewable energy and environmental engineering. She has her M.S....
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The Roman Catholic Church has seven holy sacraments that are seen as mystical channels of divine grace, instituted by Christ. Each is celebrated with a visible rite, which reflects the invisible, spiritual essence of the sacrament. Whereas some sacraments are received only once, others require active and ongoing participation to foster the "living faith" of the celebrant. Baptism
baptism of Jesus
The baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist, from an Armenian evangelistary (1587). © Photos.com/Thinkstock
Baptism is seen as the sacrament of admission to the faith, bringing sanctifying grace to the person being baptized. In Catholicism the baptism of infants is the most common form, but unbaptized children or adults who wish to join the faith must also receive the sacrament. A person is to be baptized only once in their life, and the Catholic Church recognizes baptisms done by most other Christian denominations as valid. In the rite of baptism holy water is usually sprinkled or poured on the head by a priest who simultaneously invokes the Trinity with the words, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."