Have you celebrated any?

How many does a person usually experience in normal life?

At Poly Graphics we have religious invitations available for 5 out of these 7 sacraments:

1. Baptism / Christening
2. Eucharist / Communion
3. Reconciliation / Confession
4. Confirmation
5. Marriage
6. Holy Orders / Ordination
7. Anointing of the Sick

Usually Baptism is performed on young children just a few weeks old. This is the child’s first sign that the Christian is a Child of God. Celebrate Baptism with your choice of our wonderful Baptism Invitations.

The first time a child of 7 or 8 years old receives the Eucharist is cause for celebration – their First Communion. I’ve written here before about First Communion. Poly Graphics has a great selection of First Communion Invitations.

Confession is also known as Penance or Reconciliation. There are several steps involved in confession – sorrow for sins, confession and absolution by a priest, then penance, restitution and celebration. Confession is a wonderful thing for an individual, but not celebrated with a group. We don’t have any reconciliation invitations, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t design one for you if you’d like to have a reconciliation celebration.

Confirmation is celebrated by children when they are about 13 years of age. It is a sacrament of mature Christian commitment that confirms the baptism of an individual. Poly Graphics has created a nice selection of Confirmation Invitations that are available for your celebration.

Marriage, of course, is the union of a man and woman. The sacrament of marriage grants grace to grow into a union of heart and soul and provides strength and assurance for the couple and their children. Marriage is a public sign of  total commitment. We’ve got formal wedding invitations, fun wedding invitations, along with shower invitations, save the date cards, and rehearsal dinner invitations.

Holy Orders, or Ordination is a celebration of a priest being ordained by vows to lead other Christians by proclaiming the Gospel, and providing the Eucharist and other sacraments. Although Poly Graphics has never created an invitation for Holy Orders, there is nothing stopping us if you’d like us to create one for you. Any of the invitations available on PolyGraphics.com can be changed to fit an Ordination celebration (although some may not be appropriate). All wording, graphics, and colors will be changed to satisfy your tastes.

Anointing of the Sick is not a celebration occasion. Usually given to seriously ill Catholics, this sacrament was formerly known as Last Rites or Extreme Unction. This  is a ritual of anointing the forehead and hands with blessed oil. Anointing of the Sick is appropriate for physical, mental and spiritual sickness. Although we have created sympathy cards, the best we can do for an ill Christian is to pray.

Most Catholics take part in 4, 5 or 6 of the seven sacraments. Only priests and other clergy participate in Holy Orders and they do not usually marry. Anointing of the Sick does not always occur before a Christian meets God in heaven.

I hope you learned something about the seven sacraments. I sure did when I was doing research for this post!

P.S. Most of the sacraments are excellent reasons to celebrate. We’d love to help you invite your guests to your party.

1. Baptism
2. Holy Communion
3. Penance/Confession
4. Confirmation
5. Matrimony
6. Anointing of the Sick
7. Holy Orders

I remember being taught by the Sisters of the Church over several months, meeting once or twice a week – more often as the First Holy Communion date approached. We rehearsed walking in straight lines and behaving (we were all 7 or 8 years old), and had several songs that we sang during the ceremony. All the other kids were smiling and waving at their parents while they walked down the aisle – exactly what the Sisters told us not to do. This was a serious ceremony and no horseplay was to be tolerated. I don’t think they whacked anyone on the hands with a ruler to keep them in line, but that was a common punishment. It could have been because the Bishop was performing the First Communion ceremony, so the Sisters didn’t want to cause an uproar.

My First Holy Communion was a fantastic event. I felt the presence of God.

And then we partied. My parents invited lots of family, and we all had a nice meal afterward.

I don’t recall the invitations that my parents used. And little did any of us know that years later I’d be part of an invitation company called Poly Graphics that specializes in First Holy Communion Invitations.

Life, and God, gives you surprises,