The sacraments are at the heart of our life as Catholics, the way we celebrate together our continuing conversion and encounter with God. Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing, Marriage, and Holy Orders 'al are activities that require preparation to bring us to the fullness of our life in community and in Christ. Chapter by chapter, Father Lawrence Mick puts these core experiences into their historical and theological context, and illuminates the ways the sacraments bring us together as God's people. Ever conscious of the complex history of the church and its dynamic relationship to ritual, as well as the varied histories of human communities, Understanding the Sacraments Today is a book to be visited and revisited, a companion to the ongoing and repeated practices that nourish us. Lawrence E. Mick, a priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, is a liturgical consultant and writer whose numerous books include Living Baptism Daly, published by Liturgical Press. He has also been active in parish, retreat, and campus ministries.

Guiding readers through the rites of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, Understanding the Sacraments of Initiation explores the way in which the sacraments of Initiation affect and influence one’s daily Christian life.

The most solemn, majestic, and beautiful gifts that Jesus Christ gave to the world are His sacraments. He endowed them with unprecedented and unparalleled power—power to change lives, save souls, and share God’s very life. The sacraments are the ordinary means by which God directs the course of each human life and all of world history. The Church celebrates seven sacraments: baptism, Eucharist, confirmation, matrimony, holy orders, confession, and anointing of the sick. Each was established by Jesus for the sake of salvation. When Jesus spoke of the sacraments, He made clear that they were essential: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God (Jn 3:5) . . . unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you have no life in you (Jn 6: 53). In Swear to God, Dr. Scott Hahn explores the richness of Christ’s sacraments—their doctrine, history, symbols, and rituals. Drawing upon the Bible and the Church’s tradition, he shows how God’s covenants—with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David—became the driving forces in history. When Jesus came to fulfill all these covenants, He established a new covenant, with greater power than ever before. Christians are God’s children now. Joined to Christ by baptism, we can already share in the eternal life of the Trinity, a life we hope to know fully in heaven. But heaven is with us, even now, in the sacraments.

Firmly rooted in the tradition of the Church and some of the best scholarship of the past 40 years, Noll explores the sign, meaning, and experience of each of the seven sacraments in the church. Included is a CD-ROM containing articles and passages by some of today's key sacramental theologians.

Understanding the Sacraments of Vocation presents insightful catechesis or mystagogy on the sacraments of vocation based on the words, actions, and signs of the rites and pastorally connects the meaning of the sacraments into daily Christian life.

Understanding the Sacraments is a popular guide for prayer and study of all seven sacraments, designed for use by individuals and groups. In this guide, the well-known Fr. Peter Stravinskas, gives you a clear and faithful Catholic teaching in chapters on each of the seven sacraments. Everyday examples and anecdotes enliven the text. An introductory chapter explains the meaning of the word "sacrament", while the closing chapter tells you how to recover a sense of the sacred in the liturgy and how to receive God's healing through the sacraments. To help you apply the teaching, frank and thoughtful questions for group discussion are included at the end of all the chapters-making this guide ideal for use in any parish or religious education program. Whether at home, your parish, or in a prayer or study group, this popular guide will help you come to a deeper understanding of the sacraments and their important place in your Christian life.

A highly-acclaimed account of the sacramental principle and the seven sacraments of the church.