A sacrament is a rite which not only signifies some specific grace, but which produces that grace in the souls of the person to whom it is administered.
What is grace?
It is that which makes us fulfil our mission as children of God. It is a power that comes from God and regenerates and nourishes. It is the energy that feeds the growth of the believing spirit of people.
The Armenian word for sacrament is khorhoort or “mystery”.
A sacrament is therefore an outward expression of faith that reflects an inward change.
There are seven sacraments of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Baptism is the Sacrament through which the believer is absolved of sins, is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, becomes a Christian and attains adoption by God. “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
Confirmation is a sacrament, in which a baptised person receives the gifts of the Holy Sprit, when he is anointed with chrism (holy water). Confirmation takes place immediately after the baptism.
Penitence is a sacrament, in which a person, who confesses his sins, receives forgiveness from the priest being invisibly released from his sins by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
Holy Communion is a sacrament by which the believer receives Christ’s Body and Blood in the form of bread and wine for remission of sins and the reception of eternal life.
Marriage is the consecration of the union between a man and a woman for life in lawful marriage. By mutual accord of the man and the woman, they are united together with a spiritual bond to each other and to the Church.
Holy Orders is the sacrament whereby through ordination, men receive the power and grace to perform the sacred duties of a clergyman of the Church.
Unction (Anointing) of the Sick is officiated upon people who are very ill and rely on God’s mercy and belief that the Holy Oil will quicken the recovery.
For more information on Sacraments click on the link to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin website www.armenianchurch.org
