I would just like to say that things are very limited here. It has taken much for me to understand these things, and the Sacraments aren't as simple as they may seem. They go deep and they are what makes Catholics different. Most of the time the only way to really understand something is to read about it in depth.
I'll give you a little info, though:Seven Sacraments:
Baptism
Confession
Eucharist
Confirmation
Holy Orders
Marriage
Annointing of the Sick
"Let's just remember that the Eucharist is the principal sacrament. It is the sacrament of sacraments. In fact, I'm going to suggest right now that the Eucharist is rightly understood as the cause of all the other sacraments. How could that be so? Well, think of Baptism. Baptism incorporates us into the Church which is the Body of Christ. It is the qualification to receive the Eucharist. We are baptized to come into the Body of Chirst, so that the Body of Christ can come into us in the Eucharist because in the Eucharist the Church becomes what it eats. We are what we eat when we receive the Eucharist because we are united to the Mystical Body of Christ in the most perfect way, and the that's the whole point of baptism.
Confirmation is the sacrament that enables us to gain Divine power to live out Christ's Eucharistic sacrifice, so that we ourselves can become extensions of Christ's sacrifice as we serve others and as we serve God and offer up ourselves.
The sacrament of Penance is also cased by the Eucahrist becasue the whole point of Penance is to restore us into the fellowship of the family so that we can be back at the meal for supper, so that we can receive the Eucharist.
Likewise, Anointing. It prepares our body, Extreme Unction does, it prepares our body and soul to become perfectly united with Christ' s Eucharistic sacrifice, as we are prepared to be resurrected and glorified and united to Christ in heaven in his Mystical Body.
Even matrimony, I believe, could be seen as caused by the Eucharist because the whole point of Matrimony for St. Paul in Ephesians 5 is this "one felsh"union that signifies the Eucharistic union of Christ and the Bride, the Church. That's really the symbolism and the power,the dynamism that makes Matrimony sacramental.
Then, finally, the sacrament of Holy Orders is caused by the Eucharist because the whole reason why priests are ordained is to perpetuate the Eucharistic sacrifice in the Church's life and through history. So the Eucharist is the principle sacrament in the sense that it is that from which all of the other sacraments are caused, from which they flow."(Seven Sacraments: Growth by Oath - Scott Hahn)
The Sacraments are there for us from the time we are born to the time we die.
Just some interesting thoughts.
Thanx, Luv
Theresa
