INTRODUCTION TO THE SACRAMENTS

(The information on this outline can be found in paragraphs 1066 – 1690 of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church and in the Second Vatican Council’s
Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium)

I. The Celebration of the Christian Mystery (CCC 1066-1075)

A. Why the Liturgy?
B. What does the word liturgy mean?
C. Liturgy as source of life
D. Prayer and liturgy
E. Catechesis and liturgy

SECTION ONE: THE SACRAMENTAL ECONOMY

II. The Liturgy – Work of the Holy Trinity (CCC 1077-1109)

A. The Father – Source and Goal of the Liturgy
B. Christ’s work in the Liturgy
1. Christ glorified…
2. …from the time of the Church of the Apostles…
3. …is present in the earthly liturgy…
4. …which participates in the liturgy of heaven
C. The Holy Spirit and the Church in the Liturgy
1. The Holy Spirit prepares for the reception of Christ
2. The Holy Spirit recalls the mystery of Christ
3. The Holy Spirit makes present the mystery of Christ
4. The communion of the Holy Spirit

III. The Paschal Mystery in the Church's Sacraments (CCC 1113-1130)

A. The Sacraments of Christ
B. The Sacraments of the Church
C. The Sacraments of Faith
D. The Sacraments of Salvation
E. The Sacraments of Eternal Life

IV. Celebrating the Church’s Liturgy (CCC 1136-1186)

A. Who celebrates?
1. The celebrants of the heavenly liturgy
2. The celebrants of the sacramental liturgy
B. How is the Liturgy celebrated?
1. Signs and symbols
2. Words and actions
3. Singing and music
4. Holy images
C. When is the Liturgy celebrated?
1. Liturgical seasons

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 2. The Lord’s Day
3. The liturgical year
4. The sanctoral in the liturgical year
5. The Liturgy of the Hours
D. Where is the Liturgy celebrated?

V. Liturgical diversity and the unity of the mystery (CCC 1200-1206)

A. Liturgical traditions and the catholicity of the Church
B. Liturgy and culture

SECTION TWO: THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH

Sacraments are “efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the
Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC 1131). There are seven: Baptism,
Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy
Orders, and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important
moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the
Christian's life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural
life and the stages of the spiritual life (CCC 1210).

VI. The Sacrament of Baptism (CCC 1213-1274)

A. What is this sacrament called?
B. Baptism in the Economy of Salvation
1. Prefigurations of Baptism in the Old Covenant
2. Christ’s baptism
3. Baptism in the Church
C. How is the sacrament of Baptism celebrated?
1. Christian initiation
2. The mystagogy of the celebration
D. Who can receive Baptism?
1. The Baptism of adults
2. The Baptism of infants
3. Faith and Baptism
E. Who can baptize?
F. The Necessity of Baptism
G. The Grace of Baptism
1. For the forgiveness of sins…
2. “A new creature”
3. Incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ
4. The sacramental bond of the unity of Christians
5. An indelible spiritual mark…

VII. The Sacrament of Confirmation (CCC 1285-1314)

A. Confirmation in the Economy of Salvation
1. Two traditions: East and West
B. The Signs and the Rite of Confirmation

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 1. The celebration of Confirmation
C. The Effects of Confirmation
D. Who can receive this sacrament?
E. The Minister of Confirmation

VIII. The Sacrament of the Eucharist (CCC 1322-1405)

A. The Eucharist – Source and summit of Ecclesial Life
B. What is this sacrament called?
1. Holy Eucharist
2. The Lord’s Supper
3. The Breaking of Bread
4. Eucharistic Assembly
5. The Memorial of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection
6. The Holy Sacrifice
7. The Holy and Divine Liturgy
8. Holy Communion
9. Holy Mass
C. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation
1. The signs of bread and wine
2. The institution of the Eucharist
3. “Do this in memory of me”
D. The Liturgical celebration of the Eucharist
1. The Mass of all ages
2. The movement of the celebration
E. The Sacramental Sacrifice: Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence
1. Thanksgiving and praise to the Father
2. The sacrificial memorial of Christ and His Body, the Church
3. The presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit
F. The Paschal Banquet
1. “Take this and eat it, all of you”: communion
2. The fruits of Holy Communion
G. The Eucharist – “Pledge of the Glory to Come”

IX. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (CCC 1422-1484)

A. What is the sacrament called?
1. Sacrament of Conversion
2. Sacrament of Penance
3. Sacrament of Confession
4. Sacrament of Forgiveness
5. Sacrament of Reconciliation
B. Why a sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism?
C. The conversion of the baptized
D. Interior Penance
E. The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life
F. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation
1. Only God forgives sin

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 2. Reconciliation with the Church
3. The sacrament of forgiveness
G. The Acts of the Penitent
1. Contrition
2. The confession of sins
3. Satisfaction
H. The Minister of this Sacrament
I. The Effects of this Sacrament
J. Indulgences
1. What is an indulgence?
2. The punishments of sin
3. In the communion of Saints
4. Obtaining indulgence from God through the Church
K. The Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance

X. The Anointing of the Sick (CCC 1499-1525)

A. Its Foundation in the Economy of Salvation
1. Illness in human life
2. The sick person before God
3. Christ the physician
4. “Heal the sick…”
5. A sacrament of the sick
B. Who Receives and Who Administers this Sacrament?
1. In case of grave illness…
2. “…let him call for the presbyters of the Church”
C. How is this sacrament celebrated?
D. The effects of the celebration of this sacrament
E. Viaticum, the last sacrament of the Christian

XI. The Sacrament of Holy Orders (CCC 1536-1589)

A. Why is this sacrament called “Orders”?
B. The Sacrament of Holy Orders in the Economy of Salvation
1. The priesthood of the Old Covenant
2. The one priesthood of Christ
3. Two participations in the one priesthood of Christ
4. In the person of Christ the Head…
5. …”in the name of the whole Church”
C. The Three Degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders
1. Episcopal ordination--fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders
2. The ordination of priests--co-workers of the bishops
3. The ordination of deacons—“in order to serve”
D. The celebration of this sacrament
E. Who can confer this sacrament?
F. Who can receive this sacrament?
G. The Effects of the sacrament of Holy Orders
1. The indelible character

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 2. The grace of the Holy Spirit

XII. The Sacrament of Matrimony (CCC 1601-1658)

A. Marriage in God’s Plan
1. Marriage in the order of creation
2. Marriage under the regime of sin
3. Marriage under the pedagogy of the law
4. Marriage in the Lord
5. Virginity for the sake of the Kingdom
B. The celebration of Marriage
C. Matrimonial Consent
1. Mixed marriages and the disparity of cult
D. The Effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony
1. The marriage bond
2. The grace of the sacrament of Matrimony
E. The Goods and Requirements of Conjugal Love
1. The unity and indissolubility of marriage
2. The fidelity of conjugal love
3. The openness to fertility
F. The Domestic Church

XIII. Sacramentals (CCC 1667-1676)

A. Definition: Sacramentals are “sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments.
They signify effects…which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By
them men are disposed to receive the chief effects of the sacraments, and various
occasions in life are rendered holy” (Sacrosanctum Concilium 60)(CCC 1667)
B. The characteristics of sacramentals
C. Various forms of sacramentals
D. Popular piety

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