Sacraments at the Service of Communion
- "…Holy Orders and Matrimony are directed towards the salvation of others; if they contribute as well to personal salvation, it is through service to others that they do so. They confer a particular mission in the Church and serve to build up the People of God." CCC 1534
Matrimony
(from the Latin matrimonium; mater "mother" and monium signifying "action, state, or condition")
- "Then God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.' God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:26–27)
"God Himself is an eternal exchange of love … and He has destined us to share in that exchange." CCC 221
Made in the image and likeness of God. God is Love, love is a communion — between God, Husband, and Wife.
Authentic love, true love is to love as God loves. (Free, Faithful, Full, and Fruitful)
- "For love is not merely a feeling; it is an act of the will that consists of preferring, in a constant manner, the good of others to the good of oneself." — Pope St. John Paul II
- In other words, you cannot judge the value of love by the intensity of the emotion.
Marriage as a Covenant, a Sacrament, and a Vocation
Covenant, not a contract. A sacred, indissoluble bond involving an exchange of persons rather than goods, a solemn agreement between God and human beings.
- "The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament." CCC 1601
The marriage bond: The consent by which the spouses mutually give and receive one another is sealed by God himself. From their covenant arises "an institution, confirmed by the divine law, . . . even in the eyes of society." The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God's covenant with man: "Authentic married love is caught up into divine love." CCC 1639
- "But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. And for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate." (Mark 10:6–9)
- "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her…" (Ephesians 5:25)
In the Sacrament, a husband and wife are given the grace to love each other as Christ loves the Church. Christ is the source of this grace. "Just as of old God encountered his people with a covenant of love and fidelity, so our Savior, the spouse of the Church, now encounters Christian spouses through the sacrament of Matrimony." Christ dwells with them, gives them the strength to take up their crosses and so follow him, to rise again after they have fallen, to forgive one another, to bear one another's burdens, to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ," and to love one another with supernatural, tender, and fruitful love.
A Sacramental Marriage Has Several Meanings:
- It is intended to bring unity between the spouses (unitive)
- It is meant to be indissoluble — the spouses are to commit to each other until death
- It is intended to be open to having children (procreative and education of children)
A sacramental marriage isn't about just the two people who are getting married. God intends for the love of a husband and wife to be life giving for their families and for the rest of their community.
In a Catholic wedding, the spouses are the ministers of the Sacrament. The essential sacramental sign is in the exchange of vows. The priest or deacon and two other people witness the marriage as representatives of the Church.
Full (Total), Faithful, Free, Fruitful
The love of the spouses requires, of its very nature, the unity and indissolubility of the spouses' community of persons, which embraces their entire life: "so they are no longer two, but one flesh." They "are called to grow continually in their communion through day-to-day fidelity to their marriage promise of total mutual self-giving." This human communion is confirmed, purified, and completed by communion in Jesus Christ, given through the sacrament of Matrimony. It is deepened by lives of the common faith and by the Eucharist received together. CCC 1644
- "The deepest reason is found in the fidelity of God to his covenant, in that of Christ to his Church. Through the sacrament of Matrimony the spouses are enabled to represent this fidelity and witness to it. Through the sacrament, the indissolubility of marriage receives a new and deeper meaning." CCC 1647
By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory. Parents are the principal and first educators of their children. CCC 1652
- Spouses to whom God has not granted children can nevertheless have a conjugal life full of meaning, in both human and Christian terms. Their marriage can radiate a fruitfulness of charity, of hospitality, and of sacrifice.
The Domestic Church
The Sacrament of Matrimony is the foundation for the Christian family; the family is the domestic Church. Families need to work together to be little communities of God's love and of prayer, to practice virtues and to serve those in need. The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith; a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity. (Holy Family, called to love and holiness)
Vocation, from the Latin vocare "to call," refers to the committed state of life that God calls us to. A free gift of one's whole life, either in marriage or in celibacy for the kingdom, loving as God loves.
Sacrament of Healing — Anointing of the Sick
Biblical Foundation
The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is rooted in Scripture. In Mark 6:13, Jesus sent the twelve apostles out to preach, and they "anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them." The clearest promulgation of the sacrament comes from James 5:14–15:
- "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." (James 5:14–15)
This command was never revoked and remains in effect for the Church today. The Catechism teaches that "This sacred anointing of the sick was instituted by Christ our Lord as a true and proper sacrament of the New Testament" (CCC 1511).
What is the Anointing of the Sick
The Anointing of the Sick is one of the seven sacraments, an outward sign instituted by Jesus Christ to confer inward grace. It is administered through the anointing of oil and prayer by a priest or bishop, bringing spiritual and sometimes physical strength to those who are seriously ill, elderly, or near death.
- In the rite of the Sacrament, the priest uses the Oil of the Sick, which has been blessed by the bishop, and anoints the sick person on the forehead and on the hands, with a prayer of healing: "Through this holy anointing may the Lord in His love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up." (Rites from Anointing and Viaticum, 25)
This sacrament is NOT only for those who are dying. The Catechism states:
- "The anointing of the sick is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived." CCC 1514
The Graces and Effects of the Sacrament
According to the Catechism (CCC 1532), the special grace of this sacrament produces these effects:
- Union with Christ's Passion: the sick person's suffering is joined to the redemptive suffering of Jesus for the good of the whole Church
- Strength, peace, and courage: to endure suffering and illness in a Christian manner, with the Holy Spirit's gifts against anxiety, discouragement, and temptation
- Forgiveness of sins: if the sick person was unable to receive the sacrament of Penance, sins may be forgiven through this sacrament
- Restoration of health: if God wills it and it is conducive to the person's salvation
- Preparation for passing to eternal life: preparing and strengthening the soul for the final journey
Who May Receive It
- Any baptized Catholic who has reached the age of reason (can go to confession) and is in a serious state of illness or advancing age
- A person does not need to be on the verge of death; grave illness, serious surgery, or significant frailty of old age is sufficient
- The sacrament may be repeated if the person recovers and becomes ill again, or if the same illness grows more serious (CCC 1515)
Who May Administer It
Only a priest or bishop may validly administer this sacrament (Code of Canon Law, can. 1003). Deacons and laypersons cannot administer it. Typically a parish priest, hospital chaplain, or any available priest responds when called upon.
The Last Rites & the Apostolic Pardon
At the end of life, the Church surrounds the dying with a series of sacraments often called the "Last Rites." These typically include: Confession (Penance), the Anointing of the Sick, and Viaticum, a final reception of Holy Communion as provisions for the journey to eternal life.
At the conclusion of the Anointing when a person is in danger of death, the priest may also offer the Apostolic Pardon, a plenary indulgence granted by papal authority that forgives the temporal punishment due to sin, opening the gates of paradise for the departing soul.
Witness of the Early Church
This sacrament was practiced from the earliest days of the Church. Origen (c. A.D. 250), John Chrysostom (387), and others wrote about the practice of anointing the sick with oil for spiritual healing and the forgiveness of sins. The Council of Nicaea in 325 also decreed that the dying must not be deprived of their final Communion (Viaticum).