Sacramental Mentality

St. Ignatius  of Loyola is a great example of the principal of Catholic Sacramentality.  Before we can appreciate the Sacraments and things sacramental we have to understand the theological context of Sacramentality.  While the Church  today recognizes seven specific rituals as moments of encounter with God, the early  Church recognized many more: washing of feet, scripture, nature, music.  We might call these sacraments with a small “s.” The number of these is google (infinite).  Catholic Saints show us that all of these things might be the occasion of a profound encounter with God.  Catherine of Siena fell into an altered state of consciousness at the sight of a flower.  Teresa of Avila wrote that God walks among the pots and pans of the kitchen.  To appreciate the seven Sacraments we first have to develop a spirituality of sacramentality, an understanding of how all reality is imbued with the presence of God.  The page of this site dedicated to Sacraments will explore this background and then look at how each sacrament offers us the possibility of deepening our relationship with the Persons of the Trinity. The sacramental is that which provides an encounter with God a “sacred moment of encounter.”  The Church helps us experience this encounter with Christ.  Christ is the Sacrament of God (Henri de Lubac), God as in Trinity.  In a word the Seven Sacraments of modern Catholicism should be considered from the viewpoint of how each encounter enables a deepening relationship with each of the Persons of the Trinity.