Title: What are the 3 Types of Sacraments of the Catholic Church? - The Catechism Guy
Headings: What are the 3 Types of Sacraments of the Catholic Church?
What are the 3 Types of Sacraments of the Catholic Church?
The 7 Sacraments of the Catholic Church:
Instituted by Christ
Sacraments of Christian Initiation
Sacraments of Healing
Sacraments at the Service of Communion (& the Mission of the Faithful)
My Favorite Books on the Sacraments of the Catholic Church
Sacraments in Scripture by Tim Gray
Three to Get Married by Fulton J. Sheen
Have you read any of these books? Which was your favorite?
Taylor Engel

Content: If you’re interested in a very good and thorough commentary on the history of what led to the Sacrament of Confirmation being received after the Sacrament of Eucharist, you can read Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila’s address from 2013 on his desire to restore the order of the Sacraments within his own diocese (Denver). To sum up the Sacraments of Initiation, the Catechism states: “ The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life” ( CCC 1212 ). Sacraments of Healing
According to the Catechism, the Sacraments of Penance/Reconciliatio n and Anointing of the Sick were instituted by Christ, the physician of our souls and bodies, in order that the Church could continue his work of healing and salvation in the world ( CCC 1421 ). The Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation is the sacrament in which the faithful “obtain pardon from God’s mercy for the offense committed against him, and … at the same time, [are] reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins” ( CCC 1422 ). Many wonder why this sacrament is even necessary if Baptism already washes away the sins of the individual. The Church states that it is because Baptism “has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life” ( CCC 1426 ). In other words, the Church recognizes that Baptism doesn’t remove the tendency of the faithful to commit sin and that only with the help of God’s grace can one eventually overcome sin. Since overcoming sin doesn’t happen overnight, the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation both forgives the person when they fall and strengthens them to not fall again. The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is the sacrament in which “the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them” ( CCC 1499 ).