Diocese of Aversa
Parish of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe
Via Pigna 24 Giugliano in Campania (NA)
Tel. 081 3300222 - Email:
Information on the sacraments
"The sacraments are external and visible signs
of an interior and spiritual grace ".
St. Augustine
What is Baptism?
Holy Baptism is the foundation of all Christian life, the entrance vestibule to life in the Spirit ("vitae piritualis ianua"), and the door that opens access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and regenerated as children of God, we become members of Christ; we are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptismus est sacramentum regenerationis per aquam in verbo - Baptism can be defined as the sacrament of Christian regeneration by means of water and word".
Meeting with Parents
Parents are the first educators of the faith and decide in full freedom to pass on to their children those values and foundations that characterize the Christian. The two meetings with parents, for the preparation for baptism, will take place in the halls of our parish twice a week: at 18.30 on Tuesday and Friday preceding the celebration normally scheduled every first Sunday of the month at 10:45 and third Sunday of the month at 16:30.
What is the Eucharist?
The Holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood through Baptism and have been more deeply conformed to Christ through Confirmation, through the Eucharist participate with the whole community in the same sacrifice of the Lord.
Meeting with Parents
Parents are the first catechists and, for this reason, they must feel the responsibility of educating their children in the faith. On this journey they are accompanied and supported by the presence of parish catechists. To help parents in this delicate task, during the year there will be monthly meetings with the parish priest, communicated from time to time by the parish secretariat. Registration for the catechism, and for the first year for the second year, shall be made at the parish office from Monday to Friday starting from 7 September 2010 until 30 September 2010.
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What is Confirmation or Confirmation?
With Baptism and the Eucharist, the sacrament of Confirmation constitutes the whole of the "sacraments of Christian initiation ”, the unity of which must be safeguarded. It is therefore necessary to explain to the faithful that the reception of this sacrament is necessary for the strengthening of baptismal grace. In fact, “with the sacrament of Confirmation [the baptized] are more perfectly linked to the Church, they are enriched with a special strength by the Holy Spirit, and in this way they are more strictly obliged to spread and defend with the word and with the work faith as true witnesses of Christ ".
Confirmation preparation
Enrollment in the preparation course for young people and adults must be made at the parish secretariat from Monday to Friday starting from September 15, 2010 until October 8, 2010. The course for adolescents will last two liturgical years and will be held one day. per week: Wednesday at 19.00. The one for adults will last a liturgical year and will be held on Sunday at 19.00.
What is Penance?
"Those who approach the sacrament of Penance receive the forgiveness of the offenses done to him by the mercy of God and together are reconciled with the Church, to which they have inflicted a wound with sin and which cooperates in their conversion with charity, example and prayer ".
A priest is available for confessions from Monday to Friday, from 17.00 to 19.30, and on Saturdays from 16.30 to 17.30.
What is the sacrament of marriage?
The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form an intimate communion of life and love with each other, was founded and endowed with its own laws by the Creator. By its nature it is ordered to the good of the spouses as well as to the generation and education of offspring. Among the baptized it was raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.
The sacrament of Matrimony is a sign of the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, consolidates their indissoluble unity and sanctifies them on the journey of eternal life.
The marriage preparation course is divided into twelve evening meetings. The course will start on January 8, 2011.
What is the Sacrament of Orders?
Order is the sacrament thanks to which the mission entrusted by Christ to his Apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: it is, therefore, the sacrament of the apostolic ministry. It involves three degrees: the Episcopate, the presbyterate and the diaconate.
The whole Church is a priestly people. Thanks to baptism, all the faithful participate in the priesthood of Christ.
This participation is called "common priesthood of the faithful". On its basis and in its service there is another participation in the mission of Christ: that of the ministry conferred by the sacrament of Holy Orders, whose function is to serve in the name and in person of Christ the Head in the midst of the community.
What is the Anointing of the Sick?
“With the Sacred Anointing of the Sick and the Prayer of the Priests, the whole Church recommends the sick to the Lord
suffering and glorified, so that he may lighten their pains and save them, indeed he urges them to join spontaneously in the passion and
to the death of Christ, in order to contribute to the good of God's people ».
Relatives should use great Christian charity towards their loved ones by preparing them for the encounter with the Lord through the religious comfort of the Sacraments of the Eucharist (viaticum) and the Anointing of the sick. However, it must be avoided that this comfort is requested too late, when the patient is no longer able to receive it, citing the futile reason for his easy impressionability. In addition to being a lack of Christian love towards one's relative, it is also an indication of little faith in the presence of the Lord.
On the first Friday of each month, after 5.00 pm, a Priest will accompany the Extraordinary Minister for the Eucharist to the homes of the sick who have requested it, so that they can confess and communicate.
Furthermore, all the other Fridays the sick, who have requested it in the parish, will be able to receive the Eucharist at home.
February 11, the day of the apparition of Our Lady in Lourdes, is also the day dedicated to the sick, so in our parish at 6.00 pm the Sacrament of Anointing will be celebrated in community: in addition to the sick, all people will be able to receive it who are over 60 years old.