There are seven sacraments:
- Baptism
- Confirmation
- Holy Eucharist
- Penance
- Anointing of the Sick
- Holy Orders
- Matrimony
There are seven sacraments and only seven, no more no less, for the simple reason that Our Lord instituted seven. These seven sacraments are a gift of love from the Son of God, a gift for which He paid His very life.
1. A sacrament administered to anyone against his will is invalid, and will have no sacramental effect.
- One of the requisite dispositions for receiving a sacrament is the desire and will to receive it. For infants and those who do not have the use of reason, the intention is supplied by the Church. We take their consent for granted or at the word of their sponsors.
2. Ceremonies, although not necessary for the validity of the Sacraments, are used in their administration, in order to make the occasions more solemn and meaningful, and to increase the devotion of the recipient.
- Our Lord Himself used ceremonies, as when He spat upon clay and moistened with it the eyes of a blind man.