Baptism is a Sacrament by which the recipient is solemnly admitted to membership of Christ’s holy Church and grafted into His mystical body. The pouring of the water symbolizes both the washing a way of sin and the downpouring from on high. The exorcism, an act of pure white magic, is intended to deaden the seeds of evil within the newly incarnated being and to ease his passage along the path of Light and Love.
Confirmation is, literally, the making of the person firm or strong in the life in Christ begun at baptism. It has the twofold effect of strengthening the soul and giving it greater power to express itself through the body. The candidate pledges himself to endeavor to set aside the smaller life of personal interests and to work for the common good. Having offered himself thereunto a knight in Christ’s service the sacramental act of confirmation follows and he is sealed once again with the sign of the holy cross, the emblem of the life of sacrifice and service.
‘Eucharist’ is a Greek word meaning ‘thanksgiving’. The Holy Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship. Designed to help those who take part therein, it is intended also to pour out a great flood of spiritual power upon the surrounding world at large and it summons the congregation to intelligent and energetic participation in this work.
All who are present must inevitably be uplifted by the radiation of His holy power and those who receive Holy Communion are brought by this blessed privilege into close and intimate union with our Lord and Master. Rightly do we regard this service as the supreme act of Christian worship and offer thanks to Him who gave it.
Absolution is a sacrament by which persons may be restored to a state of spiritual health after the commission of sin. Absolution must not be thought of as enabling man to escape the consequences of his misdeeds. It is a spiritual process, a loosening from the bondage of sin, a process of at-one-ment with the higher self, a restoration of that inner harmony of being which is disturbed by wrongdoing, so that man can make fresh effort towards righteousness, fortified by the uninterrupted flow of the divine power within him.
The purposes of the Sacrament of Holy Unction are to aid in the restoration of bodily health, to prepare a person for death and to provide the remission of sin for it also involves a form of absolution. Extreme Unction is a form of unction which with the giving of holy communion is used in the case of a person who appears to be about to die. The name is sometimes aid to originate from the idea that it is the last of the unctions given to the ordinary Christian, those of Baptism and confirmation preceding it.
Christ did not institute marriage but the sacrament blessing such marriage. This is intended to help the parties live together in a state of love and mutual aid. When they have pledged their love and fidelity to one another in the presence of Christ, the priest blesses them in His name.
Holy Orders are the sacraments by which, in their various degrees, ministers of the Church receive power and authority to perform their sacred duties. Our Lord works through human agency and to the end that those who are chosen for this sacred ministry as bishops, priests or deacons, shall become readier channels for His grace, He has ordained that they shall be linked closely with Him by these holy rites and shall thereby be empowered to administer his sacraments and act as almoners of His blessing. But it is most important that the people remember that they receive all sacraments from the hand of Christ Himself and that the officiant is but and instrument in His hand.
