An Overview Concerning Sacraments
The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves
around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments. There are seven sacraments
in the Church: Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, Eucharist, Penance,
Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.
Sacraments are "powers that comes forth"
from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions
of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are "the
masterworks of God" in the new and everlasting covenant.
Put another way, sacraments are channels of God’
grace. They celebrate and sanctify our
life and its milestones. The sacraments
bring us into the life of the Church (sacraments of initiation, that is, Baptism, Chrismation and Holy Eucharist), sustain us
(Eucharist, Reconciliation or Confession and Annointing of Oil), and sanctify
reflect our vocation (marriage and holy orders or Cheirotonia).
Not all services offered by the Church are
sacramental, but often they are offered in conjunction with sacraments. For example, the Order of Burial is not
“sacramental”, however, families of the deceased often include celebration of
(Eucharistic) liturgy as part of the funeral services.
In the tradition of the Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic
Church, most services are sung or chanted.
As a result, it is often more enriching to have a cantor assist the
clergy when services are conducted. Of
course, this is not required, and,
indeed, a cantor or krylos may not
always be available. There are no fees charged for services by clergy,
however, it is typical that a good-will offering is made when services are
requested and offered. This offering
should reflect your financial ability, along with some consideration for the
amount of time that will be required for the services, any expenses that may be
related (such as travel) and the general need for clergy to meet their personal
needs and obligations. Should a cantor
or the krylos be requested, consideration
should be made for re-imbursing them as well.
You can find information about the various sacraments
on the following pages. For any
additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Fr. Zenon, the
Pastor, or his assistant, Deacon Donald Dudar.