Sacraments

From very early on in Church tradition there has been a strong emphasis on initiating potential members in the proper way. Different liturgical practices sprang up in various places, all with their own unique understanding of what Christian initiation meant. Very early on baptism, anointing (what happens at Confirmation), and Eucharist are seen within these practices. However, the method of doing these things varied, sometimes widely, in the ancient Christian world. Some of the rites of these areas seemed to baptize with oil instead of water, some intertwined baptism with a profession of faith, while others simply used the Trinitarian formula (in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) found in the Gospels. Some traditions accompanied their Eucharistic celebrations with entire meals, where others may have simply had the bread and wine.

These early traditions eventually encountered one another, shared ideas, and slowly overlapped and became more and more similar. The overall initiation sacrament, which encompassed all baptism, anointing, and Eucharist slowly disintegrated into three distinct sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist.

From the Catechism

1131 The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.

1132 The Church celebrates the sacraments as a priestly community structured by the baptismal priesthood and the priesthood of ordained ministers.

1133 The Holy Spirit prepares the faithful for the sacraments by the Word of God and the faith which welcomes that word in well-disposed hearts. Thus the sacraments strengthen faith and express it.

1134 The fruit of sacramental life is both personal and ecclesial. For every one of the faithful on the one hand, this fruit is life for God in Christ Jesus; for the Church, on the other, it is an increase in charity and in her mission of witness.