As the Baltimore Catechism succinctly states: “A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.”  It goes on to explain, “When the sign is applied to the one who receives the Sacrament, it signifies inward grace and has the power of producing it in the soul. The external action performed by the minister of the Sacrament is called a sign of the inward grace because it signifies and represents outwardly what is produced inwardly and invisibly in the soul. The sacramental signs actually effect what they represent. . . .[and they] were instituted by Christ. Our Lord is the Author of all the Sacraments. Only God can give to material things, or to outward signs, the power of producing grace in the soul.”