Sacrament

圣礼

A sacrament is a rite through which God confers sanctifying grace upon believers. The nature and number of sacraments, as well as the term used to denote them, vary across Christian denominations. Catholics believe in the Seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The Catholic Church holds that the Sacraments are necessary for salvation, though it is not absolutely required that every believer receive them all. The term used in Eastern Orthodoxy for sacrament is Sacred Mystery. Orthodoxy upholds the same seven as Catholicism as principal Mysteries but also allows for anything within one’s spiritual life to be considered a Mystery. Protestant churches vary in their views of sacraments; most view baptism and the Eucharist as sacramental, while some do not believe in a sacramental classification apart from the rest of religious life.