Latin word sacramentum means "a sign of the sacred.“  sacred things are things set apart.

 

The world Sacramentum  is borrowed it from the Roman Army, which referred to the oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers.  Hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. 

                 

The Hebrew word for "holiness,“    "kedushah" קדושה‎  has the connotation of
"separateness."   "you shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy" (Leviticus 19:2)   Jew must be a people "set apart." God's fearful holiness is associated with his moral purity (Psalms 24:3-4)

The ultimate hope is that  the whole universe will be filled with divine glory, kavod.  Israel can only share in God's holiness through the performance of the mizvot (sing, mitzvah) (Blessed are you, Lord God…who has sanctified us by your commandments).   kedushah is applied to parts of the liturgy, especially the doxologies based on Isaiah 6:3 and Ezekiel 3:12 which echo the praise of the angels

 God, the Invisible One, whom ‘no one has ever seen' (Jn 1:18),is disclosed through something that is

•  earthly,
• visible,
• audible,
• tangible,

something which may be humanly experienced.  This is the sacrament.  Is that not the principle of incarnation where the Word became flesh?

 

SACRAMENTS ARE MANY – main ones are

We cannot actually count them or separate them even though most churches count them as seven.  In fact for a believer, the whole life is a sacrament – set apart for God.  As such every part of life activity should be considered as a Sacrament.

Look at the following list.  Aren’t  they means of grace and salvation?

Family Prayer,
Grace Before food,
Sunday Church,
Bible Studies,
Prayer meetings,
Laying on of hands,
Hand shakes,
Graduation parties,
Birthday parties ……..????

 

In any society whether religious or secular  there are two forms of rite

 

 

Rites of Passage is a rite of initiation where there is a change of status and introduction to new form of living style.  Rites of intensifications are a routine regular repeated rite intended to intensify the common morals, standards, faith and form of living.  Hence Rite of passages are done once only while rites of passages are repeated as often as necessary. 

The sacraments can also be divided into three classes:

 

Rites of Passages consists of  three phases as shown below:

 

 

 

Rites of Intensification

           Prayer – family, group,  community
          Worship
           Communion
           Bible Studies
           Revival meetings

           Etc are examples of Rites of intensification.

 

The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life.