We usually say seven. But we’ve never made that number official.
This surprises people coming from Catholic backgrounds, where the seven sacraments are precisely defined. It also surprises Protestants who are used to debates about whether there are two sacraments or seven. The Orthodox answer is both more relaxed and more expansive than either position.
The seven we commonly list are Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist, Confession, Marriage, Holy Unction, and Holy Orders. Walk into any Orthodox parish in America and ask, and you’ll get that list. St. Michael’s teaches these seven. So does every other Antiochian parish. But here’s the thing: the Church has never formally drawn a line and said “these seven and no others.”
Why We Say “Mysteries”
You’ll notice we often call them Holy Mysteries instead of sacraments. The Greek word is mysterion. It means something hidden that’s being revealed. When we baptize someone, God is doing something we can see (water, oil, a priest, a person) and something we can’t (the Holy Spirit regenerating a soul, Christ uniting someone to His death and resurrection). That’s a mystery. It’s not secret, but it’s not entirely explainable either.
The word “sacrament” comes from Latin and carries more of a legal flavor. Nothing wrong with it. We use it all the time. But “mystery” gets closer to what we’re experiencing.
The Whole Church Is Sacramental
Here’s where Orthodoxy differs from the Western approach. Catholics defined exactly seven sacraments at the Council of Trent in the 1500s, partly in response to Protestant challenges. They needed precision. We never felt that need. The Orthodox Church sees her entire life as sacramental. When the priest blesses your home with holy water, is that a sacrament? When someone is tonsured a monk, is that a sacrament? When we bless the waters at Theophany, is that a sacrament?
We don’t worry about it too much. These things partake of the mystery of God’s presence and action in His Church. The seven we list are the major ones, the ones Scripture and Tradition clearly identify as essential. But God isn’t limited to seven channels of grace.
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware writes about this in The Orthodox Church. He points out that Orthodoxy has never been comfortable reducing grace to a numbered list. Grace flows through the Church’s life. The seven mysteries are like rivers, but the whole Church is an ocean.
What Makes Something a Mystery?
The seven we name all share certain things. They were instituted by Christ or the Apostles. They involve physical elements (water, bread, wine, oil). They’re performed by the Church through her bishops and priests. And they convey grace, they actually do something rather than just symbolizing something.
That last point matters. When Fr. Nicholas baptizes someone at St. Michael’s, that person is genuinely born again. When we commune, we receive Christ’s Body and Blood. These aren’t symbols or memorials. They’re encounters with the living God.
But other things in the Church’s life share some of those characteristics too. That’s why we don’t get anxious about the number seven. It’s a traditional way of organizing things, not a fence around God’s activity.
What This Means for You
If you’re inquiring into Orthodoxy, don’t worry about memorizing a list. You’ll learn the mysteries as you experience them. You’ll be baptized and chrismated. You’ll confess and commune. Maybe you’ll be married in the Church or anointed when you’re sick. The mysteries will become part of your life, not just concepts you studied.
And you’ll discover that the whole rhythm of Orthodox life has a sacramental quality. Lighting a candle before an icon, receiving blessed bread after Liturgy, venerating the cross, hearing “Many years!” sung over you on your name day, none of these are “official” sacraments, but they’re all ways the Church mediates God’s presence.
The seven mysteries are the heart of it. They’re the ones we can’t do without. But they’re not walls. They’re doors that open into the larger mystery of life in Christ, which is what the Church exists to give us.
