Sacred Heart - Saint Casimir

Baptism | Holy Orders | Marriage | Anointing of the Sick | Reconciliation (Confession) | Confirmation

Baptism

• What: See below what the Catechism says about Baptism.
• Who: All persons desiring to have a child baptized must attend a Baptismal Preparation Class prior to the baptism. Godparents of the child must also attend. Classes are usually held quarterly. To register for the class, call the Parish secretary at 772-2424.
  For further information, contact Father Applegate, 772-1787 or via email.
• When: Celebration of the Sacrament during Mass is encouraged and will take place on the first weekend of the month in the church in which the family is registered. Private baptisms after Mass are on the second weekend of the month.
• Excerpts about Baptism from the Catechism

  1275 Christian initiation is accomplished by three sacraments together: Baptism which is the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its strengthening; and the Eucharist which nourished the disciple with Christ's Body and Blood for his transformation in Christ.

  1276 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Mt 28:19-20).

  1277 Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism.

  1278 The essential rite of Baptism consists in immersing the candidate in water or pouring water on his/her head, while pronouncing the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

  1279 The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ.

  1280 Baptism imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of the character Baptism cannot be repeated (cf. DS 1609 and DS 1624).

  1281 Those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who,without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will, are saved even if they have not been baptized (cf. LG 16).

  1282 Since the earliest times, Baptism has been administered to children, for it is a grace and gift of God that does not presuppose any human merit; children are baptized in the faith of the Church. Entry into Christian life give access to true freedom.

  1283 With respect to children who have died without Baptism, the liturgy of the Church invites us to trust in God's mercy and to pray for their salvation.

  1284 In case of necessity, any person can baptize provided that he have the intention of doing that which the Church does and provided that he pours water on the candidate's head while saying: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

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Holy Orders

• What: See below what the Catechism has to say about Holy Orders
• Who: If you would like to serve God by preaching the Word of Salvation, by celebrating the sacraments, and by serving those in need, you may have a vocation to the priesthood.
• Excerpts from the Catechism about Holy Orders

  1590 St. Paul said to his disciple Timothy: "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of hand" (2 Tim 1:6), and "If anyone aspires to the office of bishop, he desires a noble task." (1 Tim 3:1) To Titus he said: "This is why I left you in Crete, that you amend what was defective, and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you" (Titus 1:5).

  1591 The whole Church is a priestly people. Through Baptism all the faithful share in the priesthood of Christ. This participation is called the "common priesthood of the faithful." Based on this common priesthood and ordered to its service, there exists another participation in the mission of Christ: The ministry conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders, where the task is to serve in the name and in the person of Christ the Head in the midst of the community.

  1592 The ministerial priesthood differs in essence from the common priesthood of the faithful because in confers a sacred power for the service of the faithful. The ordained ministers exercise their service for the People of God by teaching (munus docendi), divine worship (munus liturgicum) and pastoral governance (munus regendi).

  1593 Since the beginning, the ordained ministry has been conferred and exercised in three degrees: that of bishops, that of presbyters, and that of deacons. The ministries conferred by ordination are irreplaceable for the organic structure of the Church: without the bishop, presbyters, and deacons, one cannot speak of the Church (cf. St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Trall. 3,1).

  1594 The bishop receive the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders, which iterates him into the episcopal college and makes him the visible head of the particular Church entrusted to him. As successors of the apostles and members of the college, the bishops share in the apostolic responsibility and mission of the whole Church under the authority of the Pope, successor of St. Peter.

  1595 Priests are united with the bishops in sacerdotal dignity and at the same time depend on them in the exercise of their pastoral functions; they are called to be bishops' prudent co-workers. They from around their bishop the presbyterium which bears responsibility with him for the particular Church. They receive form the bishop the charge of parish community or a determinate ecclesial office.

  1596 Deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of service of the Church; they do not receive the ministerial priesthood, but ordination confers on them important functions in the ministry of the word, divine worship, pastoral governance, and the service of charity, tasks which they must carry out under the pastoral authority of their bishop

  1597 The sacrament of Holy Orders is conferred by the laying on of hands followed by a solemn prayer of consecration asking God to grant the ordinand the graces of the Holy Spirit required for his ministry. Ordination imprints an indelible sacramental character.

  1598 The Church confers the sacrament of Holy Orders only on baptized men (viri), whose suitability for the exercise of the ministry has been duly recognized. Church authority alone has the responsibility and right to call someone to receive the sacrament of Holy Orders.

  1599 In the Latin Church the sacrament of Holy Orders for the presbyterate is normally conferred only on candidates who are ready to embrace celibacy freely and who publicly manifest their intention of staying celibate for the love of God's kingdom and the service of men.

  1600 It is bishops who confer the sacrament of Holy Orders in the three degrees.

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Marriage

• What: See below what the Catechism has to say about Marriage
• When:When: Before setting a date, contact Father (772-1787) at least 6 months in advance. Refer to our Wedding Guide for further information.
• Excerpts from the Catechism about marriage

1659 St. Paul said: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church....This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church." (Eph 5:25, 32).

1660 The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. by its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Christ the Lord raised marriage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament (cf. CIC, can. 1005 § 1; cf. GS 48 § 1).

1661 The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1799).

1662 Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love.

1663 Since marriage establishes the couple in a public state of life in the Church, it is fitting that its celebration be public, in the framework of a liturgical celebration, before the priest (or witness authorized by the Church), the witnesses, and the assembly of the faithful.

1664 Unity, indissolubility, and openness to fertility are essential to marriage. Polygamy is incompatible with the unity of marriage; divorce separates what God has joined together; the refusal of fertility turns married life away from its "supreme gift," the child (GS 50 §1).

1665 The remarriage of persons divorced from a living, lawful spouse contravenes the plan and law of God as taught by Christ. They are not separated from the Church, but they cannot receive Eucharistic communion. they will lead Christian lives especially by educating their children in the faith.

1666 The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called "the domestic church," a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity.

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Anointing of the Sick

• What: See below what the Catechism says about Anointing of the Sick
• Who: If a loved one is sick or home bound, please notify the parish office (772-2424) if you want the pastor to visit them or have Holy Communion brought to them. If anyone needs to be anointed, please contact Father (772-1787)
• Excerpts from the Catechism

  1526 "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the presbyters of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (Jas 5:14-15).

  1527 The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick has as its purpose the conferral of a special grace on the Christian experiencing the difficulties inherent in the condition of grave illness or old age.

  1528 The proper time for receiving this holy anointing has certainly arrived when the believer begins to be in danger of death because of illness or old age.

  1529 Each time a Christian falls seriously ill, he may receive the Anointing of the Sick, and also when, after he has received it, the illness worsens.

  1530 Only priests (presbyters and bishops) can give the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, using oil blessed by the bishop, or if necessary by the celebrating presbyter himself.

  1531 The celebration of the Anointing of the Sick consists essentially in the anointing of the forehead and hands of the sick person (in the Roman Rite) or of other parts of the body (in the Eastern rite), the anointing being accompanied by the liturgical prayer of the celebrant asking for the special grace of this sacrament.

  1532 The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects:

  the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his won good and that of the whole Church;
  the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
  the forgives of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
  the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul;
  the preparation of passing over to eternal life.

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