Sacraments
Each sacrament is an outward sign established by Christ to confer an inward grace. They are rites performed to convey God’s grace to the recipient, through the power of the Holy Spirit. As the Sacraments are our greatest gifts as Catholics in connection to the salvation we receive in the Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ, the Cathedral Parish seeks to help prepare those who are about to receive them so that they may be joyfully and faithfully received.
Baptism
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…”
Confirmation
“…He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
Eucharist
“This is the bread that came down from heaven….The one who eats this bread will live forever.”
Reconciliation
“If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins...”
The Anointing of the Sick
“Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church...”
Holy Orders
“…The Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.”
Matrimony
“And I will show you a still more excellent way….Love is patient; love is kind…”
ORDER OF CHRISTIAN FUNERALS
“All the sacraments, and principally those of Christian initiation, have as their goal the last Passover of the child of God which, through death, leads him into the life of the Kingdom. Then what he confessed in faith and hope will be fulfilled: ‘I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.’” (CCC 1680)
The Church, as Mother, mourns deeply with those who mourn the death of their loved ones, even as she awaits in hope the final resurrection of all the faithful. In the last moments of their earthly journey, the Church desires to accompany souls into the Father’s hands with the deeply meaningful prayers of the funeral rites. Through two millennia, the Church has developed these prayers as a comfort to those who mourn, a heartfelt prayer for those whose souls are now commended to God’s mercy, and as an expression of hope in the final victory of God over sin and death.
If you are experiencing the death of a friend or relative, we at the Cathedral offer our condolences to you and your family. For information on the various funeral rites or for scheduling a funeral Mass at the Church, please contact the parish office at 522-3342.