The whole liturgical life of the Church revolves around the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments. There are seven sacraments in the Church: Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, Eucharist, Penanace, Annointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. Though not every individual has to receive every sacrament, the Church affirms that, for believers as a whole, the sacraments are necessary for salvation, as the modes of grace divinely instituted by Christ Himself and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. In other words, a sacrament is a sacred and visible sign that is instituted by Jesus to give us grace, an undeserved gift from God.
Christ was present at the inception of all of the sacraments, which He instituted 2,000 years ago. Christ is also present every time each sacrament in celebrated. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that the seven sacraments touch all the stages and all important moments of the Christian life. Through each of them Christ bestows that sacrament's particular grace, such as incorporation into Christ and the Church, forgiveness of sins, or consecration for a particular service.