Holy Orders
Holy Orders is the sacrament which ordains priests to continue the mission Jesus asked his apostles to continue until the end of time. This sacrament requires training and schooling before it can be performed. Also, in the Catholic Church, the only people that can be priests are baptized men. Order comes from the word ‘ordinato’ which means unification with a body: in this case the body of Christ. Priests were created in the Old Testament when God chose the Levi tribe of the twelve nations of Israel to proclaim the Word of God and to restore communion with Him. To become a priest, one must go to seminary. There are three different levels of the priesthood: deacon, priest, and bishop. Becoming a deacon is one stage in the road to becoming a priest, but there are also people who do not go farther than this point. When priests are ordained, they take a vow of celibacy, but deacons do not take this same vow. Deacons can be married and have children, while priests are not able to be married. Bishops perform the sacrament of Holy Orders, and they also oversee the clergy in their diocese. The priest, of any level, is to serve as an instrument of the Church, through special graces, and to act as a representative of Christ. Priests are not infallible and are tempted with sin just like any person is, even though priests become Christ during certain circumstances. Faith should not be based off of only a priest, it should be based off of your relationship with God and priests should be there to help guide a person along the way.
Matrimony
Matrimony is the permanent union of a man and a woman to help lead the other toward Christ. The sacrament of Matrimony is different than two people just becoming legally married. Matrimony is performed during a mass and the couple makes vows, before God, to give themselves to each other. The couple must be pursuing this sacrament of their own free will, they must be baptized, and not be impeded by any natural or ecclesiastical laws. The sacrament of Matrimony is legal in the world’s eyes, but there are little requirements to just a legal marriage. Spousal love, in Matrimony, is demonstrated through the love of Christ and the Church. The grace received during this sacrament is intended to perfect the couple’s love for one another and to strengthen their unbreakable unity. Couples will help to bring one another closer to Christ and educate children, they may have. This sacrament forms the domestic church: the first place faith is learned by children should be in their families through the observation of the sacraments and the education of tradition.