In the Sacrament of Holy Orders men, after adequate education and spiritual preparation, are ordained deacons, priests and bishops. They are appointed by the Church to serve as spiritual guides of their communities. Deacons serve to remind us of the Christian imperative to be helpful to others in a ministry of charity. The apostles were the first bishops and priests. Bishops are the direct successors of the apostles of Jesus carry on the teachings of the apostles. The signs of this sacrament are the laying on of hands by a bishop on the heads of the ordination and anointing their hands with oil by the same bishop.