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Sacraments In The Medieval Period Essay

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The Medieval Theological themes:
The Sacraments
There were seven sacraments in medieval period. Baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, marriage, holy orders, and extreme unction are the seven called as sacraments. In Catholic theology the sacraments are the means of grace. Salvation is applied to a person through these sacraments.
According to catholic theology, the grace of God does not operate primarily through individual prayer and faith but supremely through the church, the hierarchy, and the clergy by channels of the sacraments.
The sacraments are essential to the saving work of God in a person’s life. They restore man to his original state of righteousness by communicating the redemptive merits of Jesus Christ.
Water Baptism
Water …show more content…

Bishop only could administer this rite. Its purpose was the communication of the Holy Spirit to strengthen the church member.
The Eucharist
The Eucharist was the central of the weekly church service. Many devout individuals participated of it daily. The Eucharist service was considered a sacrifice for the sins of believers. Their purpose was to strengthen sanctifying grace, the grace of God that works in a person’s life. Every time participant received a fresh infusion of the grace of God. The Eucharist was a sacrifice for the sins of the participants.
Every Catholic was to attend mass once a week. Once in a year was absolutely mandatory. The first Communion of a child, taken after confirmation, was a special celebration.
During medieval period, preaching ministry experienced a very dry condition. The proclamation of the gospel was ignored as sermon focused on the importance of church duties. The preaching ministry was replaced by church rituals. They focused more importance on church duties rather than preaching. In this time, liturgical movement rose and exist some years. The mass, ritual worship were attaining its highest peaks. In the Middle Ages, preaching go down to a great extent under the weight of ceremonial, or was influenced by the opposite systems of Scholasticism and

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