Sacraments are "powers that comes forth" from the Body of Christ, (Cf. Lk 5:17; 6:19; 8:46) which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are "the masterworks of God" in the new and everlasting covenant.

The Sacraments of Christ (CCC 1114-1116)

"Adhering to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, to the apostolic traditions, and the consensus . . . of the Fathers," we profess that "the sacraments of the new law were . . . all instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Council of Trent (1547): DS 1600-1601).

During his hidden life and public ministry, Jesus' words and actions were already salvific, for they anticipated the power of his Paschal mystery. So they announced and prepared what he was going to give the Church when all was accomplished. the mysteries of Christ's life are the foundations of what he would henceforth dispense in the sacraments, through the ministers of his Church, for "what was visible in our Savior has passed over into his mysteries." (St. Leo the Great Sermon. 74, 2: PL 54, 398.)

The Seven Sacraments of the Church (CCC 1210-1211)

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: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian's life of faith (Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 65, 1). There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.

The three sacraments of Christian initiation:

• Baptism
• Confirmation
• Eucharist

The sacraments of healing:

• Penance
• Anointing of the Sick

The sacraments at the service of communion and the mission of the faithful:

• Holy Orders
• MatrimonyWhilee is not the only one possible; this order allows one to see that the sacraments form an organic whole in which each particular sacrament has its own vital place. In this organic whole, the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the "Sacrament of sacraments": "all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end." (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 65, 3).