The Number of Sacraments

There are seven sacraments of the New Law. Man has seven bodily requirements, and, since the bodily life has a certainconformity with the spiritual life, we discern seven spiritual needs corresponding to those of the body. The seven sacramentsanswer these seven requirements of the soul: (a) In the bodily order, man needs first to be born; in the spiritual order, birth is baptism. (b) In the bodily order, man needs to grow to maturity and strength; in the spiritual order, this is accomplished by confirmation. (c) In the bodily order, man has constant need of nourishment to support life and strength; in the spiritual order,the soul is nourished by Holy Eucharist. (d) In the bodily order,sickness or infirmity calls for medicine and care; the soul is restored to health by penance. (e) In the bodily order, man needs full vigor, with all traces of past wounds and illnesses removed;the soul has this boon in extreme unction. (f) In the bodily order,there must be peace and seemly rule, and some must have authority to this end; this need, in the spiritual order, is supplied by holy orders. (g) In the bodily social order, man needs to propagate; inthe spiritual order, this natural need finds sanctification inmatrimony.

The fitting order to use in naming the seven sacramentsis this: baptism, confirmation, Holy Eucharist, penance, extremeunction, holy order, matrimony. For first come the sacraments which perfect the individual man: (a) directly: baptism,confirmation, Holy Eucharist; (b) indirectly: by removing what is harmful: penance, extreme unction. Next come the sacramentswhich perfect man in society: holy orders, matrimony.

Absolutely speaking, the greatest of all the sacramentsis Holy Eucharist, for it is our Lord and God himself. Yet, on thescore of man’s necessity, baptism comes first, and penancenext.

And the necessity of which we speak is the necessity of end. A thing is said to have the necessity of end: (a)simply or absolutely, if the end cannot be attained without it; (b)relatively or nonabsolutely, if the end can be attained without it,but not conveniently or becomingly. Thus, if a man proposes to seea certain mountain, he must, of simple necessity, go to the place where the mountain can be seen. Some conveyance is necessary for making the journey to the place from which the mountain may be viewed, yet, despite difficulty and inconvenience, the man might beable to reach the place by walking, and so could dispense with theconveyance. But it would be a hardship. Now, of all the sacraments,baptism alone is necessary for man’s salvation “by the simple necessity of end.” Yet, in case aman sinsmortally after baptism, penance becomes necessary. And, as a requisite for the continuance of the Church, holy order is necessary.