Celebration of the Christian mystery
This section needs expansion with: There are variations in the Eastern Catholic Churches that are only mentioned in passing and need fleshing-out. You can help by adding to it. (May 2016)
Sacraments
Main article: Sacraments of the Catholic Church
There are seven sacraments of the church, of which the most important is the Eucharist.[48] According to the Catechism, these sacraments were instituted by Christ and entrusted to the church.[10] They are vehicles through
which God's grace flows into the person who receives them with the proper disposition.[10][49] In order to obtain the proper disposition, people are encouraged, and in some cases required, to undergo sufficient preparation before being permitted to receive certain sacraments.[12] Participation in the sacraments, offered to them through the church, is a way Catholics obtain grace, forgiveness of sins and formally ask for the Holy Spirit.[10][50][51][52][53] These sacraments are: Baptism, Confirmation (Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance and Reconciliation, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.
In the Eastern Catholic Churches, these are often called the holy mysteries rather than the sacraments.[54]
Liturgy
Main articles: Eucharist (Catholic Church), Catholic liturgy, and Sacraments of the Catholic Church
Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the Eucharist at the canonization of Frei Galvão in São Paulo, Brazil on 11 May 2007
Sunday is a holy day of obligation for Catholics that requires them to attend Mass. At Mass, Catholics believe that they respond to Jesus' command at the Last Supper to "do this in remembrance of me."[55] In 1570 at the Council of Trent, Pope Pius V codified a standard book for the celebration of Mass for the Roman Rite.[56][57] Everything in this decree pertained to the priest celebrant and his action at the altar.[57] The participation of the people was devotional rather than liturgical.[57] The Mass text was in Latin, as this was the universal language of the church.[56] This liturgy was called the Tridentine Mass and endured universally until the Second Vatican Council approved the Mass of Paul VI, also known as the New Order of the Mass (Latin: Novus Ordo Missae), which may be celebrated either in the vernacular or in Latin.[57]
The Catholic Mass is separated into two parts. The first part is called Liturgy of the Word; readings from the Old and New Testaments are read prior to the gospel reading and the priest's homily. The second part is called Liturgy of the Eucharist, in which the actual sacrament of the Eucharist is celebrated.[58] Catholics regard the Eucharist as "the source and summit of the Christian life",[48] and believe that the bread and wine brought to the altar are changed, or transubstantiated, through the power of the Holy Spirit into the true body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ.[59] Since his sacrifice on the Cross and that of the Eucharist "are one single sacrifice",[60] the Church does not purport to re-sacrifice Jesus in the Mass, but rather to re-present (i.e., make present)[61] his sacrifice "in an unbloody manner".[60]
In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the term Divine Liturgy is used in place of Mass, and various Eastern rites are used in place of the Roman Rite.
Liturgical calendar
Main articles: Liturgical calendar and General Roman Calendar
In the Latin Church, beginning with Advent, the time of preparation for both the celebration of Jesus' birth and his Second Coming at the end of time, the liturgical year follows events in the life of Jesus. Christmas and Christmastide follow Advent beginning on December 25 and ends on the feast of the baptism of Jesus on January 13.
Lent is a time of purification and penance that consists of the 40 days in each calendar year, excluding Sundays, that begin with Ash Wednesday and end with Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.
The Easter (or Paschal) Triduum consists of three liturgies that are each practiced once per year in any Catholic parish or community. The Holy (or Maundy) Thursday evening Mass of the Lord's Supper is the first of these liturgies. The Triduum continues with the liturgy of Good Friday, the only day of the year on which Mass is not celebrated. The Triduum culminates with the celebration of Jesus' resurrection, the most solemn observance of which is the Easter Vigil. The specific liturgy of the Easter Vigil is a Mass celebrated only during the Saturday evening preceding Easter Sunday and contains ritual elements not performed at any other point in the liturgical year. Masses celebrated on Easter Sunday also celebrate the Resurrection but are closer in structure to other Masses than is the Easter Vigil. These days recall Jesus' last supper with his disciples, his passion, death on the cross, his burial, and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. The season of Eastertide follows the Triduum and climaxes on Pentecost, recalling the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus' disciples in the upper room.
The rest of the liturgical year is called Ordinary Time.[62]
The Eastern Catholic Churches each follow their own liturgical calendars, which may differ from the Latin liturgical calendar.
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