To inquire about celebrating the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and/or First Holy Communion, the Sacrament of Marriage, or the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession), please contact your local parish.
Find Parish contact information: Parishes in the Diocese of Saskatoon
Sacraments in the Catholic Church
“Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. The seven sacraments touch all the stages and all the important moments of Christian life: they give birth and increase, healing and mission to the Christian’s life of faith. There is thus a certain resemblance between the stages of natural life and the stages of the spiritual life…. the Eucharist occupies a unique place as the ‘Sacrament of sacraments’: ‘all the other sacraments are ordered to it as to their end.’ ” – Catechism of the Catholic Church #1210-1211
BAPTISM
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1213:
“Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), 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: ‘Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.'”
In the Catholic tradition, infants and children are welcomed for baptism with great joy!
Those seeking baptism are asked to contact their local parish for details about preparation being offered for parents and/or godparents and registering for baptism. Find a list of parishes at: Parishes in the Diocese of Saskatoon
Older children and adults seeking Baptism in the Catholic Church are welcomed through the process of RCIA – Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Find more information about RCIA at your local parish, or see the overview at: Becoming Catholic as an Adult
CONFIRMATION & FIRST EUCHARIST
Please contact your local parish for information about sacramental preparation of children for Confirmation and First Eucharist (First Holy Communion) and First Reconciliation – or for more information, contact Marilyn Jackson, the Director of Ministry Services at the Catholic Pastoral Centre: mjackson@rcdos.ca or (306) 659-5836.
Find a list of parishes at: Parishes in the Diocese of Saskatoon
Catechism of the Catholic Church #1285:
“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 baptized] 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 #1322-1324:
The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist. At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did 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: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.’ The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’ (Lumen Gentium)‘ ‘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.’
This sacrament is called “Eucharist” which means Thanksgiving. It is also called the Lord’s Supper, the Breaking of the Bread, the Memorial of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, the Paschal Banquet, the Holy Sacrifice, the Holy and Divine Liturgy, Holy Communion, and the Holy Mass (Missio), “because the liturgy in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished concludes with the sending forth (missio) of the faithful, so that they may fulfill God’s will in their daily lives” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1328-1332).
In the Holy Eucharist we sacramentally receive Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity – in the words of St. Augustine, “let us become what we consume.”
RECONCILIATION (Confession)
“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.” – Lumen Gentium 11
Please contact our local parish to find Confession Times or to find out more about First Reconciliation for children. Find a list of parishes at: Parishes in the Diocese of Saskatoon
MARRIAGE
“Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife,
and they become one flesh.” – Genesis 2:24
Marriage preparation programs are provided at various times during the year, both at local parishes and by supporting groups in the community. Find more information at: Marriage Preparation Programs
The marriage covenant between a man and a woman is a way for both to grow in holiness, to be a sign of Christ’s sacrificial love, and to be truly life-giving in the world — including giving life to children. The sacrament of marriage is indissoluble, an action of God: “what God has united, man must not divide.” For all these reasons and more, the Church desires to assist and accompany couples as they discern and prepare for marriage.
Marriage is more than a relationship, more than a friendship, more than a contract! In the Catholic Church, marriage is a sacrament — a visible sign of God in our world.
“It is a sacrament, because Jesus re-invested it with a grace and power that existed in ‘the beginning’, when God gave to the first human beings the grace of fidelity. Through God’s power, conferred in this sacrament, man and woman are enabled to live out faithfully their high calling to become ‘one body.'”
– At Home With God’s People by Fr. Bill O’Shea and Peter Gagen
ANOINTING 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.” – Lumen Gentium 11
HOLY ORDERS
“The whole Church is a priestly people. Through Baptism all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ. This participation is called the ‘common priesthood of the faithful.’ Based on this common priesthood and ordered to its service, there exists another participation in the mission of Christ: the ministry conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders, where the task is to serve in the name and in the person of Christ the Head in the midst of the community. The ministerial priesthood differs in essence from the common priesthood of the faithful because it confers a sacred power for the service of the faithful. the ordained ministers exercise their service for the People of God by teaching (munus docendi), divine worship (munus liturgicum) and pastoral governance (munus regendi).” – Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 1591-1592
For more information about Vocations to Holy Orders (Priesthood or the Diaconate) and/or Religious Life please see: VOCATIONS