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A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.
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There are seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance,
Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.
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The Sacraments have the power of giving grace from the merits of Jesus Christ.
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Some of the Sacraments give sanctifying grace, and others increase it in
our souls.
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The Sacraments that give sanctifying grace are Baptism and Penance; and they
are called Sacraments of the dead.
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Baptism and Penance are called Sacraments of the dead, because they take away
sin, which is the death of the soul, and give grace, which is its life.
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The Sacraments that increase sanctifying grace in our soul are: Confirmation,
Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony; and they are
called Sacraments of the living.
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Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, and Matrimony are
called Sacraments of the living, because those who receive them worthily are
already living the life of grace.
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He who receives the Sacraments of the living in mortal sin commits a sacrilege,
which is a great sin, because it is an abuse of a sacred thing.
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Besides sanctifying grace the Sacraments give another grace, called
sacramental.
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Sacramental grace is a special help which God gives, to attain the end for
which He instituted each Sacrament.
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The Sacraments always give grace, if we receive them with the right dispositions.
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We can receive the Sacraments more than once, except Baptism. Confirmation, and
Holy Orders.
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We cannot receive Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders more than once,
because they imprint a character in the soul.
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The character which these Sacraments imprint in the soul is a spiritual mark
which remains forever.
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This character remains in the soul even after death: for the honor and glory of
those who are saved; for the shame and punishment of those who are lost.
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