More properly termed holy mysteries, the Church’s entire life is one of sacrament. In the mysteries, the Christian is united with God, becoming a partaker of the divine nature (II Peter 1:4). With all the sacraments, God makes his presence known in his divine energies, using physical means to convey himself to his people. The word mystery in this sense carries both the meaning of something beyond our understanding but also the mystical, that which unites the divine with the human. Historically, the term mystery refers not so much to a “thing” as to an “action,” God acting upon man.

There are seven generally recognized sacraments, though the number has never been fixed dogmatically by the Church. Two are sacraments of initiation into the Church, baptism (Rom. 6:4; Eph. 4:5; Col. 2:12; I Peter 3:21) and chrismation (also called confirmation; Acts 8:14-17, 19:6). Another completes the initiation and nourishes the life of the Christian, the Eucharist, which is regarded as the highest of the sacraments (John 6:47-58; Luke 24:35; Acts 2:42, 46). The remainder of the sacraments are occasional: holy unction for the sick (James 5:14), confession for repentance and reconciliation with the Church (I John 1:9; James 5:16), marriage for those joined in the marital community (John 2, etc.), and ordination for those called to serve the Church in holy orders (Acts 6:1-6, 13:3; Titus 1:5; I Tim. 4:14; II Tim. 1:6).

All of the mysteries require preparation in the Church’s life, and so may not be administered to the non-Orthodox (Matt. 7:6). The one exception is baptism, which is the mystery that unites the Christian with Christ in the Church, bringing him from being a believer in Christ as a catechumen (one who is preparing for baptism) to a full member of the Body of Christ.