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The
Sacraments:
Christ
instituted the sacraments of the new law. 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:1
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. (Catechism 1210)
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Baptism:
Scheduled
by appointment one month in advance
Holy Baptism is the
basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in
the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),4
and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.
Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons
of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into
the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism
is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the
word."
(Catechism
1213)
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Confirmation:
Baptism, the
Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together
constitute the "sacraments of Christian
initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must
be explained to the faithful that the reception of the
sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion
of baptismal grace.89 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." (Catechism
1285)
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Eucharist:
The holy Eucharist
completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised
to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and
configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation
participate with the whole community in the Lord's own
sacrifice by means of the Eucharist. (Catechism
1322)
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Sacrament of
Reconciliation:
Saturday:
4:00 PM to 4:45 PM.
Any other time between 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM by appointment
Those
who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from
God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and
are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which
they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by
example, and by prayer labors for their conversion. (Catechism
1422)
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Anointing of the Sick:
By the sacred
anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the
whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering
and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save
them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the
good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to
the Passion and death of Christ (Catechism
1499)
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Marriages:
To be
arranged with priest at
least 12 months in advance according to
the common policy of the Dioceses of New
Jersey
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 (Catechism
1601)
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Sacramentals:
Holy Mother Church
has, moreover, instituted sacramentals. These are sacred
signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They
signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which
are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By
them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the
sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered
holy." (Catechism
1667)
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Funerals:
All the
sacraments, and principally those of Christian initiation,
have as their goal the last Passover of the child of God
which, through death, leads him into the life of the
Kingdom. Then what he confessed in faith and hope will be
fulfilled: "I look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. (Catechism
1667)
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