The Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church - Hardcover

by Romanus Cessario (Author)

There are seven sacraments administered in the Catholic Church. What are they, and what do they do? Why do human beings require sacramentalized, visible realities to seal their confession of faith in Jesus Christ? Why does the Catholic Church administer the sacraments in the way that it does?

Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario, OP, offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church. He addresses the rationale for the sacraments and provides detailed exposition of each one, highlighting the importance of the Catholic tradition--and of Thomas Aquinas, in particular--for contemporary reflection on the sacraments.

This book examines why participation in the sacramental life of the Church is required for the believing Christian and helps readers understand the role the sacraments play in the sanctification of the world.

Back Jacket

"An essential guide for Catholic students at every level of catechetical and theological formation"

Leading Catholic theologian Romanus Cessario offers an in-depth explanation of the seven sacraments celebrated in the Catholic Church.

"Christ's love for us has led him to share the infinite bounty of his passion, death, and resurrection in the seven sacraments of the Church, pouring from his side the blood 'of which a single drop has power to win all the world forgiveness of its world of sin' (Adoro te devote). In its magisterial presentation of the theology of the sacraments and of their divinely assured efficacy in every circumstance of the Christian life, this wonderful book makes clear on every page that we must rely not our own resources but on the power of God's grace in giving us communion with the Blessed Trinity, forgiving our sins, and providing us with the bread of angels. This is an essential guide for Catholic students at every level of catechetical and theological formation."
--Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia, OP, Vatican City

"In this lucid account of the 'holy signs' of the New Covenant, Romanus Cessario seeks to show that sacramental theologians cannot be mere copies of social-anthropological students of myth and ritual. Only a robust metaphysic can bring out the way divine agency is set to work in the sacraments, the 'separated instruments' of the Word incarnate, for the restoration and perfection of the 'image of God' in human life. The author succeeds admirably in this attempt."
--Aidan Nichols, OP, Sometime Pope John Paul II Lecturer in Roman Catholic Theology, University of Oxford

"With a rare combination of learning and lucid expression, Romanus Cessario tells us everything we need to know about the sacraments. This is a book that should deepen any reader's experience of the way each sacrament confers, strengthens, or restores holiness."
--Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law, emerita, Harvard University

Author Biography

Romanus Cessario, OP (STD, University of Fribourg) holds the Adam Cardinal Maida Chair of Theology at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida. He was named and remains an Ordinary Academician of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Fr. Cessario has published in the fields of moral and sacramental theology as well as in the history of Thomism. His books include The Moral Virtues and Theological Ethics, A Short History of Thomism, and Christian Faith and the Theological Life.