Sacraments

The history of human salvation is the history of the way God came to men.

The first step on this way was the bridging of the gulf separating God and man in the person of the one Mediator Jesus Christ and by his work of redemption. By means of his Church Christ makes his grace available to all.

The great mystery of the union in Christ of a human nature with the second Person of the Godhead is that the human actions and sufferings of Christ are divine actions and sufferings. The sacraments are a living continuation of this mystery. There are earthly, external signs here which, of themselves, could never acquire any supernatural significance, but the signs of the sacraments have been made by Christ into vehicles of his grace. They effect in men the grace for which Christ made them the sign.

There are seven sacraments.

They were instituted by Christ and given to the Church to administer. They are necessary for salvation. The sacraments are the vehicles of grace which they convey. They are validly administered by the carrying out of the sign with the proper intention. Not all are equally qualified to administer all the sacraments. The validity of the sacrament is independent of the worthiness of the minister. Three sacraments imprint an indelible character.

“Let the Children Come”…Baptism welcomes your child as a member of our faith-filled Catholic family. Our relationship with God begins in the waters of Baptism. It is the cornerstone of our Catholic faith. As parents, we support, nurture, and help grow our children’s relationship with God. God’s promise of heaven is declared in Baptism. By continually bringing our children to the Table of the Lord and showing them a Christ-centered life, we begin them on that faith-filled journey to heaven.

St. Ambrose offers Baptism classes every other month. Parents are required to attend the class before their first child is baptized. Godparents are an essential part of your child’s faith. We encourage them to attend the class with you. Godparents should be people who are good, patient, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic witnesses of the Catholic faith to help support you and your child in their faith journey. If you have already had a child baptized in the Catholic faith, there is no need to attend a Baptism class. However, we encourage you to come, deepen your faith and understanding to support your family on their faith journey. One parent must be a practicing Catholic and a registered parishioner of St. Ambrose.

Please contact Kim Nemet at 330-460-7316 for more information on the Sacrament of Baptism and baptismal preparation classes.

Visit StAmbrose.us/baptism for Online Baptism Planner, Online Baptism Certificate Form and Godparent Guidelines.

This sacrament (sign) is the one that suggests to us the wonderful in pouring of the strength of the Holy Spirit which enables us to walk with strength and conviction through the murky waters of the world that is not truly God-centered. This sacrament can be seen as God’s injection of spiritual vitamins for the journey through life.

For more information about Confirmation at Saint Ambrose, please contact Religious Education Office at 330-460-7338. Or visit www.StAmbrose.us/Confirmation

The sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession, Penance) is the means and the sign that Christ gave us to show His willingness to heal us when, through our own human frailty, we turn in on ourselves and away from Him and our neighbor. This is the sign God has given us that through the words of His priest (“I now absolve you from your sins”) whatever harm we have done to our relationship with our God is healed and we are restored to a state of warm friendship with our Father in heaven.

Please visit our Reconciliation page for days and times to receive this healing Sacrament. 

This sacrament used to be known as the sacrament of Extreme Unction because it involved the dying person and the priest in a rite of departure from this life into the next life with God. It is again a sign. It is the sign of a God who has sustained us through life now in attendance for our transfer from this earthly life to the eternal life with God.

If you are a parishioner at Saint Ambrose and desire to receive the Sacrament of Anointing, please contact the rectory at 330-460-7300.

Without being too clever about it, one could call the Catholic priesthood the civil service of the Lord. The sacrament is that which guarantees the on-going life of the church – the Body of Christ. Holy Orders maintains that relationship with God that is the right and privilege of His people.

The priesthood is the vehicle that God, through His Son, chose to maintain the regular flow of His grace and blessings through the sacraments. The priest, through this sacrament of Holy Orders, offers sacrifice to God (through the Mass); forgives sins (through the sacrament of Reconciliation); heals the sick according to the will of God (through the sacrament of Anointing); welcomes new people into God’s community the church (through Baptism) and cements with the love of God the union of man and woman in marriage (through the sacrament of Matrimony).

Additional information concerning a vocation, please contact the rectory or check out Church Vocations or Cleveland Catholic Priesthood.

For more information on discerning a religious life:

Man and woman could wed and through their union produce children without the intervention of the priesthood. But the sacrament of Matrimony is God’s way of blessing a union He has already created and sanctioned. To return to our original analogy “From Womb to Tomb” God, through His sacraments, blesses all the stages of our living and dying. The sacraments are the sign that we can walk with God and that He most certainly walks with us.

Please visit our Wedding Preparations page at StAmbrose.us/Wedding for Wedding Guidelines Booklet, Liturgy Planning Form, Engaged Couples Online Form and Marriage Validation Online Form.

Just as we need food to sustain us through the long hard climb that we know as life, so in the climb to the spiritual goal we need sustentation. This is the Eucharist, the Bread of Life, the Cup of Eternal Salvation.

There are two fundamental ideas which constantly recur in the Church’s teaching, on the sacraments.

First there is the Church’s concern for these instituted by Christ, their number, and their proper preservation and administration; then the grace which Christ has for all time linked with these signs and which is communicated by them.

The second is the effect of the sacraments. They are the signs of Christ’s work; the effectiveness of Christ’s continuing work in his Church cannot be dependent on man’s inadequacy. A sacrament, administered properly in the way established by Christ and with the proper intention, gives the grace it signifies. It is effective not by reason of the power of intercession of priestly prayer nor on account of the worthiness of the recipient, but solely by the power of Christ. The power of Christ lives in the sacraments. The effect of the sacrament is independent of the sinfulness or unworthiness of the minister. The Church has never tolerated any subjective qualification of the objective effectiveness of the sacraments ex opere operato. This would ultimately be to conceive the way of salvation as being man’s way to God and not God’s way to man.

Sacrament Preparation

Do you or your child need to make or prepare for a Sacrament? Explore the following pages for more information and registration details.