Ordination is the sacramental ceremony in which a man becomes a deacon, priest, or bishop and enabled to minister in Christ's name and that of the Church. The ordination ceremony includes various rituals, rich in meaning and history, but the essential rite of the sacrament is the laying on of hands and prayer of consecration. By this ritual, the ordaining bishop and the other priests invoke the Holy Spirit to come down upon the one to be ordained, giving him a sacred character and setting him apart for the designated ministry.