ordinance, ordination - the act of ordaining; the act of conferring (or receiving) holy orders; "the rabbi's family was present for his ordination"

sacrament - a formal religious act conferring a specific grace on those who receive it; the Protestant sacraments are baptism and the Lord's Supper; in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church there are seven traditional rites accepted as instituted by Jesus: baptism and confirmation and Holy Eucharist and penance and holy orders and matrimony and extreme unction