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The Sacraments

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons and daughters 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 in the word.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1213)

IHM Baptism Guidelines (PDF)

Those who approach this Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation 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.

As the Sacrament of Matrimony, it is the matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole life, and is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.

IHM Wedding Guidelines (PDF)

Through the Sacrament of the Eucharist you and your child participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice, uniting ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in the Body and Blood to form a single body. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian life.

Through 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, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.