Final answer:
The Council of Trent, which met from 1545 to 1563, significantly reshaped the Catholic Church's sacramental practices, confirming the importance of all seven sacraments and affirming transubstantiation in the Eucharist, thereby rejecting Lutheran and other Protestant doctrinal reforms.
Step-by-step explanation:
The significant change in the understanding and practice of the Sacraments in modern times can be traced to the Council of Trent, which met intermittently from 1545 to 1563. This council was convened in response to the challenges posed by the Protestant Reformation and primarily to address Martin Luther's critiques.
The Council reasserted the importance of all seven sacraments, which include ordination, confirmation, marriage, the last rites, and penance; it also affirmed the existence of Purgatory and the necessity of religious art. One of the outcomes included the assertion of the Doctrine of Merit, countering the Lutheran emphasis on justification by faith alone.
As a result of the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church affirmed the traditional teachings on the sacraments, denying the Protestant view that depicted the Eucharist as merely commemorative.
Catholics continued to believe in transubstantiation, the idea that during the Eucharist, the bread and wine literally transformed into the body and blood of Christ, which was a significant point of divergence from Protestant beliefs.
In terms of Christian practice, the Council of Trent sought to clarify and reinforce Catholic doctrine, setting a clear demarcation from other Christian traditions. These decisions had longstanding effects on Christian worship and the administration of sacraments, ensuring that issues of orthodoxy and heresy would continue to be a source of division within Christianity.