In them, Christ himself is at work. It is He who baptises, He who acts in His Sacraments to communicate grace.
Worship is integral to our lives as Christians; when we join in the liturgical life, revolving around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the seven sacraments, our Catholic faith is strengthened and our relationship with God deepened.
When Jesus died on the cross he restored our relationship with God, made possible only by grace. And this grace, this restoration of our relationship with God our Father, continues to be offered today, through Christ’s Church. It is offered through the seven sacraments that touch all the stages of our Christian life. The sacraments manifest God’s love for us, from the day of our birth, throughout our lives and all the way to the hour of our death.
These sacraments are effective signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church.
These Sacraments are effective signs of grace
Sacraments of Christian Initiation
The way of Christ, leads to life.
These lay the foundation of every Christian life; we are born anew by Baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of Confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. It is in these that we receive the treasures of divine life.
Baptism
Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the doorway to the other Sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as children of God. We become members of the Christian faith and are incorporated into the Church and her mission.
Confirmation
The Sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of the grace given at Baptism. We become more perfectly bound to the Church and enriched with the special strength of the Holy Spirit.
At Confirmation we are marked by the seal of the Holy Spirit, marking our total belonging to Christ.
Eucharist
The Sacrament of the Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian life.
First Holy Communion
Each year, the children in our parish are invited to join the First Holy Communion preparation programme. This is a very important stage in their spiritual journey when they prepare to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. Many of the children will be in Year 3 at whichever school they attend, although older children are also welcome to join the programme.
The programme starts towards the end of September with the children receiving Eucharist in June the following year. Parents who wish their children to prepare for First Holy Communion must book an appointment through the parish office to meet with Fr Gaston.
Family catechises is a new approach for getting your children ready to receive the Sacraments. As parents and guardians, you are the primary educators in passing on your faith to your children.
The programme consists of 3 sets of books prepared by the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, Lymington.
- Baptism
- Reconciliation
- The Eucharist
Each set has a book for you as the parent and a book for your child to work in. As a family together you work through the books. You are the centre of your child’s faith formation. Family is the first place where faith is learned, lived, and interpreted. Your children will learn from you and your wider family as well as the parish community.
As well as the books there are 8 in-person sessions over the course of the programme which your children are expected to attend.
Sacraments of Healing
Our life of Christ remains hidden with Christ in God, we are still vulnerable to suffering, illness and death. Our new life can be weakened, even lost, by sin.
Through the sacraments of both Penance and Reconciliation and Anointing the Sick, Christ’s Church, through the Holy Spirit, continues His work of healing and salvation.
Let the Church always be a place of mercy & hope
Penance/Reconciliation
Those who come to the sacrament of Penance obtain the pardon from God’s mercy for the offence committed against him and become reconciled with the Church.
It makes present, Jesus’ call to conversion and imparts to us, the people who sin, the love of God as we draw closer to Him.
Anointing the Sick
Illness and suffering are so often part of the human condition, it is in illness and suffering that we face our own weaknesses and shortcomings.
The anointing of the sick brings spiritual comfort to those who are seriously ill through giving them a grace of strengthening, peace and courage, renewing our faith and trust in God and his divine providence.
Sacraments at the Service of Communion
All of us, in our Life in Christ, are called to a vocation of holiness and mission; the Holy Spirit gives us the graces needed during our life as we look to our eternal home.
Holy Orders and Matrimony present a particular mission in the Church through serving to build up the People of God.
Matrimony
The vocation to marriage is written within the very nature of man and woman; God who created man out of love also calls him to love – their love for each other becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves us.
It is through this that they receive a grace from Christ through which they help one another attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children.
Holy Orders
The one priesthood of Christ is made present through the ministerial priesthood in our Church. This does not diminish the uniqueness of Christ’s priesthood or remove the evangelising mission of the people of God.
It is through this that the recipient is configured to Christ by the special grace of the Holy Spirit to serve as Christ’s instrument for his Church.
The Sacraments are the manifestation of the Father’s tenderness & love towards each of us.
Please contact the parish office if you wish to find out more about any of the Sacraments.