The Sacraments

The Seven Sacraments

I BAPTISM

Please contact the Parish Office (337-369-3816) during the first three months of pregnancy. You must allow at least four to six months for preparation before Baptism.

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word."

1. What is this Sacrament Called?
2. Baptism in the Economy of Salvation
3. How is the Sacrament of Baptism Celebrated?
4. Who Can Receive Baptism?
5. Who Can Baptize?
6. The Necessity of Baptism
7. The Grace of Baptism

II CONFIRMATION

Baptism, the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Confirmation together constitute the "sacraments of Christian initiation," whose unity must be safeguarded. It must be explained to the faithful that the reception of the sacrament of Confirmation is necessary for the completion of baptismal grace. For "by the sacrament of Confirmation, (the baptized) are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed."

1. Confirmation in the Economy of Salvation
2. The Signs and the Rite of Confirmation
3. The Effects of Confirmation
4. Who Can Receive This Sacrament?
5. The Minister of Confirmation

III EUCHARIST (Holy Communion)

Contact the Parish Office for home communion distributed by a Eucharistic Minister.

The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

 

"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet ‘in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'"

 

GUIDELINES FOR RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION

FOR CATHOLICS: As Catholics, we fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. We are encouraged to receive Communion devoutly and frequently. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be conscious of grave sin and normally should have fasted for one hour. A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there is no opportunity for confession.
In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible (Code of Canon law, canon 916).
A frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is encouraged for all.

FOR OUR FELLOW CHRISTIANS: We welcome our fellow Christians to this celebration of the Eucharist as our brothers and sisters.
We pray that our common baptism and the action of the Holy Spirit in this Eucharist will draw us closer to one another and begin to dispel the sad divisions which separate us.
We pray that these will lessen and finally disappear, in keeping with Christ's prayer for us "that they may all be one" (Jn 17:21)

Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion.
Eucharistic sharing in exceptional circumstances by other Christians requires permission according to the directives of the diocesan bishop and the provisions of canon law (canon 844 Sec. 3).

Members of the Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Polish National Catholic Church are urged to respect the discipline of their own Churches. According to Roman Catholic discipline, the Code of Canon Law does not object to the reception of Communion by Christians of these Churches (canon 844 Sec. 3).

FOR THOSE NOT RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION: All who are not receiving Holy Communion are encouraged to express in their hearts a prayerful desire for unity with the Lord Jesus and with one another.

FOR NON-CHRISTIANS: We also welcome to this celebration those who do not share our faith in Jesus Christ. While we cannot admit them to Holy Communion, we ask them to offer their prayers for the peace and unity of the human family.

1. The Eucharist—Source and Summit of Ecclesial Life
2. What Is This Sacrament Called?
3. The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation
4. The Liturgical Celebration of the Eucharist
5. The Sacramental Sacrifice: Thanksgiving, Memorial, Presence
6. The Paschal Banquet
7. The Eucharist—"Pledge of the Glory to Come"

IV PENANCE of RECONCILIATION (Confession)

Saturdays: 4:00 pm to 4:50 pm
Weekdays: Beginning 30 minutes before Mass.

"Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion."

1. What Is This Sacrament Called?
2. Why a Sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism?
3. The Conversion of the Baptized
4. Interior Penance
5. The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life
6. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation
7. The Acts of the Penitent
8. The Minister of This Sacrament
9. The Effects of This Sacrament
10. Indulgences
11. The Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance

V MARRIAGE (Matrimony)

A date for a wedding can be set ONLY after a conversation with one of the parish priests.
Contact Fr. Charles Langlois or Fr. Jude Halphen at least six months in advance.

If you are legally married and wish to have your marriage validated (Blessed) in church, please contact Fr. Charles Langlois at (337) 369-3816

Click here for information on obtaining a marriage license

 

Couple Checkup

The Couple Checkup is designed to help you and your partner build a more satisfying and intimate relationship. Just answering the questions will stimulate thoughts and attitudes about your relationship. It is designed to activate dialogue, discovery, and increase the overall quality of your relationship.

It will help you discover your strengths as a couple. Strengths are what enable you to enjoy, and to continue developing a healthy relationship. It will also help you identify issues that are threatening the vitality of your relationship and may need to be addressed.

"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."

1. Marriage in God's Plan
2. The Celebration of Marriage
3. Matrimonial Consent
4. The Effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony
5. The Goods and Requirements of Conjugal Love
6. The Domestic Church

VI HOLY ORDERS (Ordination)

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.

1. Why Is This Sacrament Called "Orders"?
2. The Sacrament of Holy Orders in the Economy of Salvation
3. The Three Degrees of the Sacrament of Holy Orders
4. The Celebration of This Sacrament
5. Who Can Confer This Sacrament?
6. Who Can Receive This Sacrament?
7. The Effects of the Sacrament of Holy Orders

VII ANOINTING OF THE SICK (Extreme Unction or Last Rites)

For Anointing of the Sick, contact Fr. Charles Langlois or Fr. Jude Halphen anytime.
The family is requested to consult with a parish priest before final funeral arrangements
are made with the funeral director.

Please consider our parish-owned, HOLY FAMILY CEMETERY.
Deacon Wade Broussard, Director
(337) 364-1663

"By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ."

1. Its Foundations in the Economy of Salvation
2. Who Receives and Who Administers This Sacrament?
3. How Is This Sacrament Celebrated?
4. The Effects of the Celebration of This Sacrament
5. Viaticum, the Last Sacrament of the Christian

THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

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"I Believe"—"We Believe"

We begin our profession of faith by saying: "I believe" or "We believe." Before expounding the Church's faith, as confessed in the Creed, celebrated in the liturgy, and lived in observance of God's commandments and in prayer, we must first ask what "to believe" means. Faith is man's response to God, who reveals himself and gives himself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life.

• MAN'S CAPACITY FOR GOD
• THE CREEDS

The Ten Commandments

"Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" To the young man who asked this question, Jesus answers first by invoking the necessity to recognize God as the "One there is who is good," as the supreme Good and the source of all good. Then Jesus tells him: "If you would enter life, keep the commandments." And he cites for his questioner the precepts that concern love of neighbor: "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother." Finally Jesus sums up these commandments positively: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

 

To this first reply Jesus adds a second: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." This reply does not do away with the first: following Jesus Christ involves keeping the Commandments. The Law has not been abolished, but rather man is invited to rediscover it in the person of his Master who is its perfect fulfillment. In the three synoptic Gospels, Jesus' call to the rich young man to follow him, in the obedience of a disciple and in the observance of the Commandments, is joined to the call to poverty and chastity. The evangelical counsels are inseparable from the Commandments.

1. You Shall Worship the Lord Your God and Him Only Shall You Serve
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
3. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
4. Honor your father and your mother
5. You shall not kill
6. You shall not commit adultery
7. You shall not steal
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife (spouse)
10. You shall not covet . . . anything that is your neighbor's