1. SACRAMENTS
Josephine R Tarroza
Religious Studies Department, School
of Liberal Arts
Ateneo de Zamboanga University
2. Definition:
• A visible sign of invisible
grace. (St. Augustine)
• It is a visible reality which
makes the invisible reality of
God real and present to us.
3. • It is sensible sign instituted by Christ
to give grace.
• A saving symbolic act or visible
sign, arising from the ministry of
Christ and continued in, by and for
the Church, which, when received in
faith, fashions us into the likeness to
Christ in his Paschal Mystery, through
the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. OLD DEFINITION
1
*NEW DEFINITION
Sensible Signs
*Saving Symbolic Acts
2
Instituted by Christ
*Arising from the ministry of Christ
Continued in, by and for the Church
Form us in the likeness to Christ in His
Paschal Mystery
3
To give grace
*Through the Holy Spirit
5. SAVING SYMBOLIC ACTS
SIGNS It is a reality which points to another
reality or suggests the existence of another
reality, but there is no connection between
the sign and what it points to.
SYMBOLS It is a reality which points to another
reality and has the power to make the reality
present and active without being identical to
it.
6. • Some signs merely point to something
else as INDICATORS, but others are super
charged with a variety of meanings that
we “discover” rather than create—they
manifest, communicate, effect us or
make real which we call as symbols.
• Not all signs are symbols but all symbols
are signs
• All interpersonal human life depends on
symbols
7. SIGNS SYMBOLS
Speaks to the head Speaks to the heart
Supplies information Provide inspiration
No hidden power Has hidden power
No historical content Communicate something
of the past, present and
future
8. ARISING FROM THE MINISTRY OF
CHRIST
• Not all sacraments were directly
“instituted by Christ” but rather these
sacraments were extracted from the
ministry of Christ.
• Jesus “instituted” the sacraments:
By being the sacrament of his Father
through his whole life of word and action
Having the Church as his basic sacrament.
14. Sacraments can be received
MANY times.
• Holy Eucharist
• Reconciliation
• Anointing of the Sick
15. Matrimony can be received
more than once only if the
husband/wife is already
dead.
16. BAPTISM
NATURE/DEFINITION
• The word BAPTISM comes from the
Greek word “BAPTIZEIN” which
means “to submerge, to immerse, to
plunge or to dip”
• In English, it has come to mean
“purify or cleanse” and it is usually
associated with water since water is
used as purifying agent
17. • Bath of
enlightenment, because those
who receive baptism becomes
“son of light”
• Baptism is the door to life and
to other sacraments
• Gateway to life in the spirit
and to the kingdom of God
18. • By nature, a spiritual birth accomplished
by the power of God through a sensible
sign, water by which the soul receives
new life in spirit
• Baltimore Catechism defines BAPTISM
as the sacrament that gives our souls
the new life of sanctifying grace by
which we become children of God and
heirs of Heaven
19. It is the sacrament of SPIRITUAL
REGENERATION which is
conferred by the application of
water while consecrating the
person to the Divine Trinity
20. HISTORY
• In the Old
Testament, circumcision became
a sign of one’s membership into
the Chosen people of God
• Circumcision is a form of baptism
that is related to the present
CHRISTIAN INITIATION
21. • Purification rituals were commonplace in
the Jewish religion but the immediate
ancestor of Christian baptism is no doubt
found in the baptismal rite practice by
John at the river Jordan. John may have
derived his baptism from the practice of
Jewish proselyte baptism (a convert to
Judaism) or from the Qumran community
(Dead Sea Scrolls) and combined it with
prophetic idea of the need for an
eschatological cleansing before the End.
22. • In the New Testament, John’s
baptism was observed.
Christian baptism after
Pentecost is much in common
with John’s baptism. It is
performed with water and
involves repentance
23. For the Early Christians, baptism is an important
decision to make for the reason that one must
be ready to die for Christ upon entering it. To
be a candidate (a catechumen) for
Baptism, one must undergo THREE YEARS of
catechetical instruction. The candidates are
accepted into the community on HOLY
SATURDAY VIGIL. Consequently, Baptism is
being administered (three-fold immersion).
Long ago, the sacraments of Confirmation and
Eucharist were part of the Baptismal Rites but
as Christians grew bigger they were separated.
24. • During the Fourth century, the
Church started baptizing babies.
Instead of receiving catechetical
instructions the child is welcomed in
the community and the parents take
the role of forming the child in faith.
• Incorporation into the Church (being
member, part of the Church)
25. FORMULA:
(NAME of the person being
baptized) I baptize you, in the
name of the Father, and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit...
26. SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES
• John 3: 5 says: Jesus
answered, verily, verily, I say unto
you, unless a man be born of water and
of the spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God
• Matthew 28: 19 says: Go, make disciples
of all nations, baptize them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son of the Holy
Spirit...
27. KINDS OF BAPTISM
• Baptism of WATER- the person to
be baptized is being administered
with water whether through
immersion, sprinkling or pouring
28. FORMS OF BAPTISM
• Infant Baptism --- it is being administered
to little children or infants through
infusion by the faith
• Children shouldn’t be deprived of
becoming a member of Christian
community. As the origin and growth of
personal life of every child begins
immediately after birth, likewise does the
Christian life of faith in Christ.
29. • Mark 10:14 states “let the little children
come to me and so do not stop them
because the kingdom of God belongs to
such...”
• Adult Baptism – it is being administered
to adult person though Immersion or
Infusion. It is usually being practiced by
the Christian of other denominations
(Protestants)
30. • Baptism of Desire – the desire of the
person to be baptized as Christian who
lives life morally on earth but never
received it due to sudden death
• Baptism of Blood- signifies martyrdom of
an unbaptized person, that is, the patient
bearing of a violent death or of an
assault of its nature leads to death, by
the reason of one’s confession of the
Christian faith or one’s practice of
Christian virtue.
31. THREE WAYS OF UNDERGOING
BAPTISM
• IMMERSION- individual is submerged
completely for few seconds in a pool of
water
• ASPERSION- the water is being sprinkled
upon individual’s body
• INFUSION- the water is poured into the
individual’s forehead
32. EFFECTS of BAPTISM
• Enters a new life in Christ
• Cleansing of Original Sin
• The Baptized is united into the Church---
the baptized people of Christ
• Confers sanctifying grace
• Confers a sharing in Christ’s very mission
(priestly, prophetic and kingly)
33. SYMBOLS
• Light of Candle- symbolizes that
Christ has enlightened the neophyte
as “Christ the Light”
• White Garment- symbolizes that
purity (cleansing of sins and the
person has “risen with Christ”
34. • Holy Oil/ Chrism- symbolizes the
gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly
baptized who has become a
Christian and the idea of being
anointed by God.
• Holy Water- symbolizes the
cleansing from sin
35. HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE OF WATER
• In Genesis 1 & 2 “God’s spirit hovering
over the raging waters”—water as
symbol of LIFE and DESTRUCTION
• Flood waters of Noah --- Noah’s family
was saved through water, so Christians
are saved through baptism---water as
symbol of saving good and faithful
followers of God
36. • Exodus deliverance of Israelites from Egypt
through the waters of the Red Sea---water as
symbol of freedom from slavery
• God’s promise to Ezekiel (Ez 36:25-26) “to
sprinkle water upon his people, to cleanse them
from all their impurities and to give them a new
heart and place a new spirit within them, taking
away their strong hearts and replacing them with
natural hearts” --- water as symbol of purification
of heart and spirit.
• In John’s baptism, people were encouraged to
turn away from their sins---water as symbol of
repentance
37. EXTERNAL SIGNS OF BAPTISM
• MATTER – such as candles, water, white
garments and chrism
• FORM- such as “I baptize you in the
name...”
• MINISTER –
Bishop, Priests, Deacons ---ordinary
Anybody (emergency) ----extraordinary
38. RITES of BAPTISM
• Reception of the Candidate
• Celebration of the word---A
passage is read from the Bible
39. • Celebration of the Sacraments
–Blessing over the Baptismal water
–Renunciation of Sin (exorcism) and
profession of faith (Creed)
–Baptism proper
–Anointing with Chrism
–Clothing with white garment
–Lighting of the Candles
40. CONFIRMATION
NATURE/DEFINITION
• Confirmation is the sacrament in
which, by the imposition of
hands, unction and prayer, a baptized
person is filled with the Holy
ghost/Spirit for the inner
strengthening of the supernatural life
and for the courageous outward
confession of faith
41. • Is conferred by anointing with HOLY
CHRISM while imposing the hands
unto the head of the candidate
• VATICAN II described Confirmation
in terms of its two essential
characteristics: closer union with
the Church and strengthening and
empowerment by the Holy Spirit to
actively spread the faith.
42. • In Confirmation “renewal of Baptismal
promises should fittingly precede its
reception.”
• “Through centuries, because of the
increasing number and size of the
dioceses, parishes and infants baptism made
it a practical impossibility to confirm all, the
anointing and laying on of hands were
separated from water baptism...”
• “In the East, it is called CHRISMATION
meaning anointing with Chrism”
43. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
• In the Old Testament, anointing
signified
healing, purification, strengthening
and empowerment. Aaron was
anointed HIGH PRIEST (Lev 8:12).
Samuel anointed Saul and David as
King (1 Sam 10:1;16:13) and Isaiah
was anointed prophet (Is 61:1)
44. Ezekiel 36: 25-28
• Cleansing from impurities
• A new heart i will give you
• “Place my spirit within you”
Isaiah 11: 1-3
• Talks about portrait of Messiah
• The gifts of the Spirit
• The sacrament for giving of the Holy
Spirit
45. “The Prophets of the Old Testament
having already foretold the
outpouring of the SPIRIT OF GOD
over the whole of humanity as a
characteristic of the of the messianic
era (Joel 2, 28; Isaiah 44:3-5)”
46. “ I will pour out water upon the thirsty
ground and streams upon the dry land; I
will pour out my spirit upon your
offspring and my blessing upon your
descendants. They shall spring up amid
the verdure like poplers beside the
flowing water. One shall say I am the
Lord” ~Isaiah 44:3-5
47. • In the New Testament, Jesus promised
His apostles:
“ Whoever believes in me, as scripture
says: Rivers of living water will flow from
within him. He said this in reference to
the spirit that those who came to believe
in him were to receive.”
“Behold I send the promise of my Father
upon you; but stay in the city of
Jerusalem until you are subdued by the
power from on high” ~Lk 24:49
48. • Jesus promised for the coming of
the advocate
• “When the time for Pentecost was
fulfilled, they were all in one place
together and suddenly there came
from the sky a noise like a strong
driving wind and it filled the entire
house in which...” ~ACTS 2:1-4
49. • It has its origin in JESUS CHRIST. The
bestowal of the Holy Spirit referred
to in HEBREWS 6:2 . The phrase “be
sealed with the gift of the Holy
Spirit” here emphasized greater
union, interior, deeper union with
Christ.
50. HISTORY/ SYMBOLS
Laying on of hands
The book of Acts 8:14-17;19:1-6 vividly attest
the invocation of the Holy Spirit by the laying on
of hands by which it completes the grace of
baptism. It is for this reason that laying on of
hands is included in the instructions outlined in
the Letter to the Hebrews 6:2. Both the “Apostolic
tradition” of Hippolytus and the treatise “De
Baptismo” of Tertullian, as the earliest accounts
to attest the celebration of confirmation, rightly
recognized the imposition of hands, which in a
certain way perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in
the Church.
51. Anointing with Chrism
Anointing in Biblical and other ancient
symbolism is rich in meaning: oil is a sign of
abundance and joy; it cleanses (anointing
before and after bath) and limbers (anointing
of athletes and wrestlers); oil is also a sign of
healing, soothing to wounds and bruises (CCC
# 1293)
52. Anointing with oil is meaningful in
sacramental life. By Confirmation, Christians
that is, those who are anointed, share more
completely in the mission of Christ and the
fullness of the Spirit. By this anointing, the
confirmand receives the “mark,” seal of the
Holy Spirit (CCC# 1294). Thus, “anointing with
chrism” and its accompanying words express
clearly the effects of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor
1:21-22), that marks our total belonging to
Christ.
53. FORMULA: Name of the
Confirmant be sealed with
the gift of the Holy Spirit
54. EFFECTS (CCC #1302)
• Free outpouring of the Holy Spirit
• Imprints on the soul an indelible mark
• “character’ perfects the common priesthood
• Perfects the baptismal grace
• 2Corinthian 2:15-16 “For we are the aroma of
Christ for the Lord” (AROMA=life & death)
(Fragrance of Christ- Christian spreading of
goodness)
55. “Confirmation therefore is to complete, to
bring to finality, to strengthen, deepen a
reality shared in Baptism. Confirmation is
necessary for completion of baptismal grace
since it makes us perfectly bound to the
Church and enriched with a special strength
of the Holy Spirit, more strictly obliged to
spread and defend the faith by word and
deed”
56. RITE OF CONFIRMATION
1. Opening Prayer
2. Liturgy of the Word
3. Presentation of the Candidates
4. Homily or Address
5. Renewal of Baptismal Promises
57. 6. Imposition of Hands
7. Anointing
8. General Intercessions
9. Liturgy of the Eucharist
10. Presentation of Gifts
11. Prayer over the Gifts
12. Prayer after Communion
13. Blessing/Dismissal
