The rites regarded as the channel or sign of grace. Augustine was the first theologian to define them as the outward and visible signs, ordained by Christ, by which we recieve the inward and spiritual graces of God, and which serve also as pledges assuring us of His grace and of our trust in Him.
The answer to the question of how many sacraments there are has varied; as many as 30 have been suggested. Since the 16th Reformation, Protestants have recognized only two such sacraments: Baptism and the Eucharist. Reacting to the Medieval practices accepted by the Roman Catholic Church, Protestants were quick to clarify that any thing that counts as sacraments must be "ordained of Christ" (see, e.g., Article 25 of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England).
The Catholic Church recognizes seven: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme unction, Ordination, and Marriage. The Roman Catholic also has a different take on the significance of the sacraments; these means of grace actually make those who recieve them more fit to receive justification from God. They are also ex opere operato, i.e., they are effective simply by the fact of their administration, quite apart from any sense of faith response on the part of the participants (which explains the often puzzling phenomenon why a Mafia boss can do Mass in the morning and then go kill half a dozen of his competitors in the afternoon) or the administrating priest (which also explains a lot).
Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, "The Place and Purpose of the Sacraments, (I)," The Churchman 73.1 (Jan.-Mar. 1959): 29-41.
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Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, "The Place and Purpose of the Sacraments (II)," The Churchman 73.2 (April-June 1959): 76-86.
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