A Sacrament is an efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is given to us. Full and active participation in the sacramental life of the Church requires a period of preparation of both mind and heart to be receptive to the grace of new life in Christ. Please contact the Parish Office for further information.
Baptism
1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptise them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1265 Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte ‘a new creature,’ an adopted son of God, who has become a ‘partaker of the divine nature,’ member of Christ and co-heir with him, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1250 Born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin, children also have need of the new birth in Baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God, to which all men are called.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1246 Every person not yet baptised and only such a person is able to be baptised
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Baptism for Infants in Stevenage
Baptism for Adults
See Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
Confirmation
Baptism, the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the ‘Sacraments of Christian initiation’, whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For ‘by the Sacrament of Confirmation, [the baptised] are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
“From this fact, Confirmation brings an increase and deepening of baptismal grace:
– it roots us more deeply in the divine filiation…
– it unites us more firmly to Christ;
– it increases the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us;
– it renders our bond with the Church more perfect;
– it gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith…”
Catechism of the Catholic Church
By the sacrament of Confirmation, they are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.
Lumen Gentium 11
Every baptised person not yet confirmed can and should receive the sacrament of Confirmation.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Confirmation Appication Form
First Holy Communinion
The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.”
The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
In the most Blessed sacrament of the Eucharist the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained. This presence is called ‘real’… because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Our Savior, at the Last Supper, on the night when he was betrayed, instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection.
Sacrosanctum Concilium
Holy Communion augments our union with Christ. The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus. Indeed, the Lord said: ‘He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.’
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Receiving First Holy Communion in Stevenage
RCIA
The sacraments of Christian initiation—Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist—lay the foundations of every Christian life. The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of Christ bears a certain likeness to the origin, development, and nourishing of natural life.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
RCIA in Stevenage
Reconciliation
Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God’s mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion.
-Catechism of the Catholic Church
It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus’ call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father5 from whom one has strayed by sin.
It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner’s personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.
It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a “confession” — acknowledgment and praise — of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.
It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest’s sacramental absolution God grants the penitent “pardon and peace.”6
It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: “Be reconciled to God.”7 He who lives by God’s merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord’s call: “Go; first be reconciled to your brother.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from the mercy of God for the offense committed against Him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion.
Lumen Gentium 11
Preparing for Confession
The Sacrament of Confession, also known as Reconciliation or Penance, is a celebration of God’s victory over sin by his death on the cross. Our creed asserts that Christians are baptised for the forgiveness of sins. In its ministry of Confession the Church makes present that redeeming power of Christ’s love, and proclaims forgiveness for sins committed after baptism.
This Sacrament is the privileged moment in which the Church guarantees God’s pardon to the sinner who truly repents. Confession should never frighten us. It is not so much an appearance before a judge who is about to sentence us,as a return home to a God who wants to be close to us. The best word we can use to describe God is love and Confession is a loving encounter between us and God. It is about hope, acceptance and a fresh start. In this Sacrament we allow God to love us. God’s forgiveness to the repentant sinner is unconditional. We cannot earn it; it has already been won for us by Christ’s death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit is our pledge of God’s serious intent in reconciling us to him and to each other.
The call to conversion is found in God’s word in scripture. We are called to change our minds, to change our hearts and to open ourselves to the living challenge which God lays down before us. It is with this attitude of conversion that we should approach the Sacrament of Confession.
Examination of Conscience
When we examine our conscience we are looking for more than a list of rules that we have broken. We are seeking to look
deeper into ourselves, and to ask in the light of God’s Word, how can we change and become more receptive to the life of grace working within us. To do this we need to ask ourselves:
- What have I done or not done?
- Why have I acted in that way?
- How can I begin to co-operate with God’s grace to change my ways?
It is easy to get stuck on the first question and simply make a list of things we have done wrong which we recount every time we go to Confession. It is important to know what we have done, but a fruitful celebration of the Sacrament should go further. Why do I act as I do? Are there habits that I have got into, or out of, that have caused me to act in this way? Are there situations that I should distance myself from, or people who easily lead me astray? Are there aspects of my lifestyle that invite trouble?
It is often through asking WHY that we can begin to prepare the way to avoid sinful actions in the future. When we have honestly tried to see why we behave in the way we do, we can start to find out HOW to avoid falling back again into old ways. This can give us hope that we can really amend our lives and put Christ at the heart of all that we do. Thinking about how we can change our lives shows us that there is a different and healthier way to live our lives.
In confession
Begin by saying:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It is [state the length of time] since my last Confession.
Then briefly tell the priest your ‘state of life,’ to help him understand your situation; e.g. ‘I am at school’ or ‘I am a wife
and mother’. If you have not been to Confession for a while and are unsure of what to do, do not worry. Tell the priest and he will help you through the Sacrament.
Now confess your sins. Be simple and straightforward. Just put into words what you have done wrong since you last went to Confession. Don’t make excuses; but if it helps, say a little bit about what happened and why. When you have finished, say:
I am sorry for all these and all my sins.
The priest will then give you some advice. He will give you a penance to do (a prayer or action that expresses your sorrow and your desire to put things right and live a new life). The priest will then ask you to make an Act of Contrition. You say one you know, or use the following:
O my God, because you are so good, I am very sorry that I have sinned against you; and by the help of your grace, I will not sin again. Amen.
The priest then says the prayer of absolution, which is the moment when God forgives your sins. He may add some other prayers as well.
1441 Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself: “The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” and exercises this divine power: “Your sins are forgiven.” Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name.
1442 Christ has willed that his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood. He entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic ministry.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Confession in Stevenage
Marriage
The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
God himself is the author of marriage. The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution: despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes, there is a certain permanent feature of this vocation.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church… It is a community of faith, hope and charity; it assumes a singular importance in the Church, as is evident in the New Testament.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Married love is by its nature ordered to the procreation and education of children. Children are the supreme gift of marriage and contribute greatly to the good of the parents themselves. The fruitfulness of conjugal love extends also to the fruits of moral, spiritual, and supernatural life that parents hand on to their children by education.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
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Getting Married in Stevenage
Anoiting of the Sick
By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. and indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ.
– Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the paralytic and restored him to health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and of salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.
– Catechism of the Catholic Church
The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects: the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church; the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age; the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance; the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul; and the preparation for passing over to eternal life.
– Catechism of the Catholic Church
How do I receive the Sacrament of the Sick?
If you or a relative are seriously ill or infirm, including going into a hospital for an operation, please contact the Parish Priest and arrange for a Sacrament of the Sick.
Holy Orders
Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees or orders: the orders of bishop, priest, and deacon
– Catechism of the Catholic Church
Christ, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, has through his apostles made their successors, the bishops, sharers in his consecration and mission; and these, in their turn, duly entrusted the office of their ministry in varying degrees to various members in the Church. Thus the divinely instituted ecclesiastical ministry is exercised in different degrees by those who even from ancient times have been called bishops, priests, and deacons.
Lumen Gentium 28
The ministerial priesthood has the task not only of representing Christ—Head of the Church—before the assembly of the faithful, but also of acting in the name of the whole Church when presenting to God the prayer of the Church, and above all when offering the Eucharistic sacrifice.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Find out more about Vocations in the Diocese of Westminster here: https://rcdow.org.uk/vocations/