The sacrament of baptism is much the same as our words. Baptism is a combination of words, people, music, and pouring water. It links Christians of the past, present, and future. Yet it results in specific changes among everyone present. In the language of the medieval texts, it causes what it signifies.
Pain sacramentalizes significant change in self, society, and world.
The change is evident when we know the cause of the pain. The sacramentalization of pain is more difficult to sense as the cause becomes more unknown. We may be pain-filled, and know that change is occurring, but not know the specificity of change. Thus pain is the sacrament of change which is many times unknown. When the cause is unknown we face pain as mysterious, A awesome, and overwhelming.