Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation, 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. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.
The sacraments of Christian initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist – lay the foundations of every Christian life. “The sharing in the divine nature given to us through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life. The faithful are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. By means of these sacraments of Christian initiation, we thus receive in increasing measure the treasures of the divine life and advance toward the perfection of charity.”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1210, 1212)
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and reception into full communion with the Catholic Church is a process of formation that typically extends through a season of a little less than eight months, from the autumn into the Easter season. Depending on your needs, this may include your reception of all three of the Sacraments of Initiation.
Please contact the rectory so that we can make the appropriate arrangements to welcome you into our household.