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Sacraments (Holy Mysteries)

 Introduction

"From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:16-17)

The Sacraments (or Mysteries) are visible signs and actions through which the divine Grace of God is imparted to all those who believe in order to sanctify and help them achieve salvation.

The redemptive act of Christ on the Cross is now passed along through the sacraments to all of us. They are "channels of Grace", sacred and visible, through which Christ is present and continues His saving work in the Church:

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,  that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Him" (Ephesians 1:7-10)

One of the distinctive features of the sacraments is their double character: visible and invisible in the same time. The sensible or outward part is given by the signs, actions, materials, words used during the sacramental ceremonies; the invisible or inward part is the divine Grace. Although Grace is one in nature, its gifts are very diverse, producing different effects in each one of the sacraments. This dichotomy of the sacraments is a permanent reminder of the Incarnation of Christ when He took material flesh and made it a vehicle of the Spirit.

Also, sacraments are personal in character: they are intended for every Christian individually and that is why the priest recites the names of the recipients during services.

In spite of the fact that today our Church recognizes officially a fixed list of Seven Sacraments, the term "sacraments" has a much broader meaning pertaining to the whole ensemble of actions that constitute the liturgical life of the Church.

The Sacraments were instituted by Christ (some directly, some through His Apostles) and therefore He is the real Officiator of them. The visible officiator of them is a bishop or a priest. And since the real Officiator is Christ, the validity of the sacraments does not rest solely upon the moral integrity of the human officiator or recipient.