The Sacraments
Baptism
Baptisms are held on Saturdays by appointment or on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month.
For additional information, please contact Rita Danhardt at (410) 289-7038 or email her at religioused@stmaryholysavior.com.
Confirmation
Confirmation deepens our baptismal life that calls us to be missionary witnesses of Jesus Christ in our families, neighborhoods, society, and the world. We receive the message of faith in a deeper and more intensive manner with great emphasis given to the person of Jesus Christ, who asked the Father to give the Holy Spirit to the Church for building up the community in loving service.
Most Holy Eucharist
The Eucharist is the source of the Christian life because whoever shares in it receives the motivation and strength to live as a true Christian. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross imparts to the believer the dynamism of his generous love. The Eucharistic banquet nourishes the faithful with the Body and Blood of the divine Lamb sacrificed for us and it gives them the strength to “follow in his footsteps.” Pope John Paul II, General Audience – April 8, 1992
Reconciliation
Not only does the Sacrament of Reconciliation free us from our sins, but it also challenges us to have the same kind of compassion and forgiveness for those who sin against us. We are liberated to be forgivers. We obtain new insight into the words of the Prayer of St. Francis: “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.” Jesus entrusted the ministry of reconciliation to the Church.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is God’s gift to us so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven. In confession, we have the opportunity to repent and recover the grace of friendship with God. It is a holy moment in which we place ourselves in his presence and honestly acknowledge our sins, especially mortal sins. With absolution, we are reconciled to God and the Church. The Sacrament of Reconciliation helps us stay close to the truth that we cannot live without God. “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
Marriage
Marriage is a sacred covenant of life and love established between a man and a woman. This sacrament is a sacrament in service of communion and is ordered by God to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children. It is directed toward the salvation of others. Through an exchange of consent, a man and woman commit themselves to love each other until death.
Anointing of the Sick
The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick was also known by the phrase, Extreme Unction, two Latin words which are known to many as “The Last Rites.”
The Rites involve prayers for the forgiveness of sins, prayers of intercession and anointing, and the actual anointing with the holy oil for the infirm. These were traditionally only experienced at a time close to death, therefore the term “Last Rites.”
The renaming of the sacrament to “The Anointing of the Sick” was brought about when there was a realization of the need to reach out in prayer to God and others at various times when we are seriously ill or perhaps in the process of dying.
Holy Orders
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.
The essential rite of the Sacrament of Holy Orders for all three degrees consists in the bishop’s imposition of hands on the head of the ordinand and in the bishop’s specific consecratory prayer asking God for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his gifts proper to the ministry to which the candidate is being ordained.
Funerals
If you experience the death of a loved one, please contact the parish office as soon as possible to begin making arrangements. Below are selections of readings and music to help you begin your preparations.