CATHOLIC

REFRESHER
 Opening Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and
enkindle in them the fire of Your love.
V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray. O God, by the light of the Holy Spirit, You have
taught the hearts of Your faithful. In the same Spirit help
us to know what is truly right and always to rejoice in Your
consolation. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
 First Joyful Mystery The Annunciation

The Fifth Joyful Mystery—The Finding in the Temple

And thinking that he was in the company, they came a

day's journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and
acquaintance. And not finding him, they returned into
Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that, after
three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the
midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them
questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his
wisdom and his answers.
Luke 2:44-48
The Sacramental Economy
 The Sacraments of Christ
Adhering to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, to the apostolic
traditions, and to the consensus . . . of the Fathers," we profess that
"the sacraments of the new law were . . . all instituted by Jesus Christ
our Lord." CCC 1114

Jesus' words and actions during his hidden life and public ministry
were already salvific, for they anticipated the power of his Paschal
mystery. They announced and prepared what he was going to give
the Church when all was accomplished. [F]or "what was visible in
our Savior has passed over into his mysteries. CCC 1115
 Baltimore No. 2, Compendium
136. Q. What is a Sacrament? 225
A. A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.
137. Q. How many Sacraments are there? 224
A. There are seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy
Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.
138. Q. Whence have the Sacraments the power of giving grace?
A. The Sacraments have the power of giving grace from the merits of
Jesus Christ. 229
139. Q. What grace do the Sacraments give? 423, 424
A. Some of the Sacraments give sanctifying grace, and others
increase it in our souls.
140. Q. Which are the Sacraments that give sanctifying grace?
A. The Sacraments that give sanctifying grace are Baptism and
Penance; and they are called Sacraments of the dead. 263, 310
 The Sacraments
Healing
Penance
Anointing of the Sick

Initiation Service of
Baptism
Communion
Confirmation
Holy Orders
(Chrismation)
Matrimony
Eucharist
 Sacramental Gifts
Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they
signify. They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work
CCC 1127
[T]he sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the
celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God CCC 1128

The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New
Covenant are necessary for salvation CCC 1129

The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact
that God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace
CCC 2008

Our merits are God's gifts St. Augustine, Sermo 298

 Baptism
Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole
Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit
and the door which gives access to the other
sacraments
CCC 1213
Peter said, "Repent, and be baptized every one
of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 2:38
The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. Jn 3:5

For all the baptized, children or adults, faith must grow after Baptism.
CCC 1254
 Baptism
The Church and the parents would deny a
child the priceless grace of becoming a child
of God were they not to confer Baptism
shortly after birth. Can. 867

As regards children who have died without

Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to
the mercy of God CCC 1261
By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all
punishment for sin. CCC 1263

Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including

those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church CCC 1271

Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his
belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from
bearing the fruits of salvation. CCC 1272
 Confirmation
It must be explained to the faithful that the
reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is
necessary for the completion of baptismal grace.
For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, [the
baptized] are more perfectly bound to the Church
and are enriched with a special strength of the
Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of
Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend
the faith by word and deed." CCC 1285

The imposition of hands is rightly recognized by the Catholic tradition as

the origin of the sacrament of Confirmation, which in a certain way
perpetuates the grace of Pentecost in the Church. CCC 1288
 Confirmation
Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of
baptismal grace:
† it roots us more deeply in the divine
filiation which makes us cry, "Abba!
Father!";
† it unites us more firmly to Christ;
† it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
† it renders our bond with the Church more
perfect;
† it gives us a special strength of the Holy
Spirit to spread and defend the faith by
word and action as true witnesses of Christ,
to confess the name of Christ boldly, and
never to be ashamed of the Cross
Holy Eucharist
 Penance
"On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,"
Jesus showed himself to his apostles. "He breathed on
them, and said to them: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you
forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the
sins of any, they are retained"' (Jn 20:19, 22-23).

The forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism is conferred by a

sacrament called the sacrament of conversion, confession, penance, or
reconciliation. CCC 1486
To return to communion with God after having lost it through sin is a
process born of the grace of God who is rich in mercy and solicitous for
the salvation of men. CCC 1489
The penitent's acts are repentance, confession or disclosure of sins to the
priest, and the intention to make reparation and do works of reparation.
CCC 1491
 Penance
The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:
 reconciliation with God by which the penitent
recovers grace;
 reconciliation with the Church;
 remission of the eternal punishment incurred by
mortal sins;
 remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments
resulting from sin;
 peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual
consolation;
 an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian
battle
 Anointing of the Sick
Christ's compassion toward the sick and his many
healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign
that "God has visited his people" CCC 1503

"So they went out and preached that men should repent.
And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil
many that were sick and healed them." Mk 6:12-13

But even the most intense prayers do not always obtain the healing of all
illnesses. CCC 1508

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
 Anointing of the Sick
Viaticum: The sacrament of Christ once dead and now
risen, the Eucharist is here the sacrament of passing over
from death to life, from this world to the Father. CCC 1524

The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the

Sick has as its effects:
 the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ,
for his own good and that of the whole Church;
 the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a
Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
 the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able
to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
 the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the
salvation of his soul;
 the preparation for passing over to eternal life.
 Apostolic Pardon
Given with Viaticum.
“Through the holy mysteries of our
redemption, may almighty ··God release
you from all punishments in this life and in
the life to come. May He open to you the
gates of ··paradise and welcome you to
everlasting joy."

"By the authority which the ··Apostolic See

has given me, I grant you a full pardon and
the remission of all your sins ··in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the
Holy Spirit.

One who receives the Apostolic Pardon gains the complete pardon of all
temporal punishment due to sin that has already been forgiven by the
reception of absolution and the doing of penance
 Holy Orders
The sacrament through which the mission
entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be
exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of
apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and
diaconate. CCC 1536
It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person his minister truly
represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which
he has received, is truly made like to the high priest and possesses the
authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself (virtute
ac persona ipsius Christi).
Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a figure of
Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ. CCC 1548
 Holy Orders
Prayer at Priestly Ordination

Lord, fill with the gift of the Holy Spirit

him whom you have deigned to raise to the rank of the priesthood,
that he may be worthy to stand without reproach before your altar
to proclaim the Gospel of your kingdom,
to fulfill the ministry of your word of truth,
to offer you spiritual gifts and sacrifices,
to renew your people by the bath of rebirth;
so that he may go out to meet
our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, your only Son,
on the day of his second coming,
and may receive from your vast goodness
the recompense for a faithful administration of his order.
 Matrimony
Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and
woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes
with a vision of "the wedding-feast of the Lamb."
Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its "mystery," its institution
and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various
realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from
sin and its renewal "in the Lord" in the New Covenant of Christ and the
Church CCC 1602

Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should

be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. Husbands, love your
wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her
Ep 5:21,22,25
 Matrimony
 The marriage covenant...ordered to the good of the
couple, as well as to the generation and education
of children.
 The grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses,
strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to
eternal life (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1799).
 Unity, indissolubility, and openness to fertility are essential to marriage.
 The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse
contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not
separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic
communion. They will lead Christian lives especially by educating their
children in the faith.
 The Christian home is the place where children receive the first
proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly
called "the domestic church."
CCC 1660, 1661, 1664-6