Catholics in the Roman Catholic tradition were long accustomed to the definition of a sacrament as a sacred sign instituted by Christ to give grace. In the light of particular historical circumstances of doctrinal dissension, this was given an important place in doctrine by the Council of Trent and the catechism of that council. Taken in the abstract, it often led to the exaggerated quest to find the origins of each sacrament in the New Testament, and indeed even in specific