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The Church therefore asks the Father to
send the Holy Spirit to make the lives of the faithful a
living sacrifice to God by their spiritual transformation
into the 1368 image of Christ, by concern for the
Churchs unity, and by taking part in her mission
through the witness and service of charity. 1110 In the liturgy of the Church, God the Father is blessed and adored as the source of all the blessings of creation and salvation with which he has blessed us in his Son, in order to give us the Spirit offilial adoption. i i i i Christs work in the liturgy is
sacramental: because his mystery of salvation is made
present there by the power of his Holy Spirit; because his
Body, which is the Church, is like a sacrament (sign and
instrument) in which the Holy Spirit dispenses the mystery
of salvation; and because through her liturgical actions the
pilgrim Church already participates, as by aforetaste, in
the heavenly liturgy. 1112 The mission of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy
of the Church is to prepare the assembly to encounter
Christ; to recall and manifest Christ to the faith of the
assembly; to make the saving work of Christ present and
active by his transforming power; and to make the g~fl
of communion bear fruit in the Church. I I 13 The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments.29 There are seven sacra 1210 ments in the Church: Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.30 This article will discuss what is common to the Churchs seven sacraments from a doctrinal point of view. What is common to them in terms of their celebration will be presented in the second chapter, and what is distinctive about each will be the topic of Section Two. |
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