What are the Church Sacraments for?
In the Church, there are many sacred rites through which divine grace – the living and active help of God – is mystically (that is, invisibly) imparted to the believer. And since there can be no empty rituals in the Church, every such act is an encounter with grace, provided the person is capable of receiving it.
Thus, in a broad sense, a sacrament is anything that is performed in the Church with prayer and reverence and is received with faith and repentance. The Holy Fathers have counted anywhere from two to several dozen sacraments. The Church, however, has never dogmatically defined their exact number. Only under the influence of Catholic theology did Orthodox literature eventually adopt the notion of the seven sacraments.
But since this teaching is not a dogma, it is important to remember that, despite the greater significance of some sacraments (such as Baptism and the Eucharist), in all sacred rites without exception the believer mystically partakes of some gift of divine grace.
This grace is given to us as help in our spiritual growth. It does not make us holy “automatically,” but aids us in becoming purer, freer, and closer to God. It is crucial to understand that a sacrament is not magic. One cannot “force” God to bestow His gift through certain actions.
The spiritual state of the person – his faith, repentance, and longing for life with God – plays a decisive role in the sacrament. Without it, participation in the sacrament may not only be fruitless but even harmful.
