The Seven Sacraments
The Catholic Church recognizes seven sacraments:
Each sacrament has its own page with full information.
Catholics believe, then, that sacraments point to and are channels of God’s grace. They work as an effective means of communication between God and His people.
The sacraments were instituted by Christ. Christ instituted all seven sacraments as ways in which He could be present to His people even after His Ascension into Heaven. The sacraments are entrusted to the Church. Christ gave the sacraments to the Church so that the Church could dispense them to the faithful.
According to the Catholic faith, the sacraments are a gift from God, given through the Church as an outpouring of His love. Through the sacraments, God justifies and sanctifies His people (i.e., He saves them and makes them holy), He meets His people where they are in order to draw them up to Him, He pours out His grace, He builds up the Church and He receives worship.
The sacraments dispense divine life. People who receive the sacraments actually share in the divine life of God. His presence enters into their souls, He helps them to live the Christian life, and He saves them so that they may reach eternal life.