Baltimore Catechism No. 1 (of 4) by Anonymous (detective books to read .txt) 📖

many kinds of Indulgences are there? A. There are two kinds of Indulgences—Plenary and Partial.

234. Q. What is a Plenary Indulgence? A. A Plenary Indulgence is the full remission of the temporal punishment due to sin.

235. Q. What is a Partial Indulgence? A. A Partial Indulgence is the remission of a part of the temporal punishment due to sin.

237. Q. What must we do to gain an Indulgence? A. To gain an Indulgence we must be in the state of grace and perform the works enjoined.

LESSON EIGHTEENTH ON THE HOLY EUCHARIST

238. Q. What is the Holy Eucharist? A. The Holy Eucharist is the Sacrament which contains the body and blood, soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine.

245. Q. What do you mean by the appearances of bread and wine? A. By the appearances of bread and wine I mean the figure, the color, the taste, and whatever appears to the senses.

249. Q. When did Christ give His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood? A. Christ gave His priests the power to change bread and wine into His body and blood when He said to the Apostles, Do this for a commemoration of Me.

250. Q. How do the priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ? A. The priests exercise this power of changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ through the words of consecration in the Mass, which are the words of Christ: This is My body; this is My blood.

LESSON NINTEENTH ON THE ENDS FOR WHICH THE HOLY EUCHARIST WAS INSTITUTED

251. Q. Why did Christ institute the Holy Eucharist? A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist—

1. To unite us to Himself and to nourish our soul with His body and blood. 2. To increase sanctifying grace and all virtues in our soul. 3. To lessen our evil inclinations. 4. To be a pledge of everlasting life. 5. To fit our bodies for a glorious resurrection. 6. To continue the sacrifice of the cross in His Church.

253. Q. What is Holy Communion? A. Holy Communion is the receiving of the body and blood of Christ.

254. Q. What is necessary to make a good Communion? A. To make a good Communion it is necessary to be in the state of grace and to be fasting for one hour from food and all drinks, except water.

[This answer has been changed in the 1977 edition to bring it up to date with the current rules.]

255. Q. Does he who receives Communion in mortal sin receive the body and blood of Christ? A. He who receives Communion in mortal sin receives the body and blood of Christ, but does not receive His grace, and he commits a great sacrilege.

LESSON TWENTIETH ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

262. Q. When are the bread and wine changed into the body and blood of Christ? A. The bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ at the consecration in the Mass.

263. Q. What is the Mass? A. The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ.

265. Q. Is the Mass the same sacrifice as that of the cross? A. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the cross.

269. Q. How should we assist at Mass? A. We should assist at Mass with great interior recollection and piety, and with every outward mark of respect and devotion.

LESSON TWENTY-FIRST ON EXTREME UNCTION AND HOLY ORDERS

271. Q. What is the Sacrament of Extreme Unction? A. Extreme Unction is the Sacrament which, through the anointing and prayer of the priest, gives health and strength to the soul, and sometimes to the body, when we are in danger of death from sickness.

274. Q. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction? A. The effects of Extreme Unction are: 1st, to comfort us in the pains of sickness and to strengthen us against temptation; 2d, to remit venial sins and to cleanse our soul from the remains of sin; 3d, to restore us to health, when God sees fit.

278. Q. What is the Sacrament of Holy Orders? A. Holy Orders is a Sacrament by which bishops, priests, and other ministers of the Church are ordained and receive the power and grace to perform their sacred duties.

LESSON TWENTY-SECOND ON MATRIMONY

282. Q. What is the Sacrament of Matrimony? A. The Sacrament of Matrimony is the Sacrament which unites a Christian man and woman in lawful marriage.

285. Q. Which are the effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony? A. The effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony are: 1st, to sanctify the love of husband and wife; 2d, to give them grace to bear with each other's weaknesses; 3d, to enable them to bring up their children in the fear and love of God.

286. Q. To receive the Sacrament of matrimony worthily is it necessary to be in the state of grace? A. To receive the Sacrament of Matrimony worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace, and it is necessary also to comply with the laws of the Church.

LESSON TWENTY-THIRD ON THE SACRAMENTALS

292. Q. What is a sacramental? A. A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion, and through these movements of the heart to remit venial sin.

294. Q. Which is the chief sacramental used in the Church? A. The chief sacramental used in the Church is the sign of the cross.

295. Q. How do we make the sign of the cross? A. We make the sign of the cross by putting the right hand to the forehead, then on the breast, and then to the left and right shoulders, saying, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

296. Q. Why do we make the sign of the cross? A. We make the sign of the cross to show that we are Christians and to profess our belief in the chief mysteries of our religion.

300. Q. What other sacramental is in very frequent use? A. Another sacramental in very frequent use is holy water.

301. Q. What is holy water?
A. Holy water is water blessed by the priest with solemn prayer to beg
God's blessing on those who use it, and protection from the powers of
darkness.

302. Q. Are there other sacramentals besides the sign of the cross and holy water? A. Besides the sign of the cross and holy water there are many other sacramentals, such as blessed candles, ashes, palms, crucifixes, images of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints, rosaries and scapulars.

LESSON TWENTY-FOURTH ON PRAYER

303. Q. Is there any other means of obtaining God's grace than the Sacraments? A. There is another means of obtaining God's grace, and it is prayer.

304. Q. What is prayer? A. Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God to adore Him, to thank Him for His benefits, to ask His forgiveness, and to beg of Him all the graces we need, whether for soul or body.

305. Q. Is prayer necessary to salvation? A. Prayer is necessary to salvation, and without it no one having the use of reason can be saved.

306. Q. At what particular times should we pray? A. We should pray particularly on Sundays and holydays, every morning and night, in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions.

308. Q. Which are the prayers most recommended to us?
A. The prayers most recommended to us are the Lord's Prayer, the Hail
Mary, the Apostles' Creed, the Confiteor, and the Acts of Faith, Hope,
Love and Contrition.

309. Q. Are prayers said with distractions of any avail?
A. Prayers said with wilful distractions are of no avail.

LESSON TWENTY-FIFTH ON THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD

310. Q. Is it enough to belong to God's Church in order to be saved? A. It is not enough to belong to the Church in order to be saved, but we must also keep the Commandments of God and of the Church.

313. Q. Which are the Commandments of God? A. The Commandments of God are these ten:

 1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
 3. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
 4. Honor thy father and thy mother.
 5. Thou shalt not kill.
 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
 7. Thou shalt not steal.
 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.

LESSON TWENTY-SIXTH ON THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

315. Q. What is the first Commandment? A. The first Commandment is: I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.

317. Q. How do we adore God? A. We adore God by faith, hope, and love, by prayer and sacrifice.

318. Q. How may the first Commandment be broken? A. The first Commandment may be broken by giving to a creature the honor which belongs to God alone; by false worship; and by attributing to a creature a perfection which belongs to God alone.

320. Q. Are sins against faith, hope, and charity also sins against the
first Commandment?
A. Sins against faith, hope, and charity are also sins against the first
Commandment.

321. Q. How does a person sin against faith? A. A person sins against faith: 1st, by not trying to know what God has taught; 2d, by refusing to believe all that God has taught; 3d, by neglecting to profess his belief in what God has taught.

326. Q. Are we obliged to make open profession of our faith? A. We are obliged to make open profession of our faith as often as God's honor, our neighbor's spiritual good, or our own requires it.

327. Q. Which are the sins against hope? A. The sins against hope are presumption and despair.

328. Q. What is presumption? A. Presumption is a rash expectation of salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it.

329. Q. What is despair? A. Despair is the loss of hope in God's mercy.

LESSON TWENTY-SEVENTH THE FIRST COMMANDMENT—ON THE HONOR AND INVOCATION OF SAINTS

331. Q. Does the first Commandment forbid the honoring of the saints? A. The first Commandment does not forbid the honoring of the saints, but rather approves of it, because by honoring the saints, who are the chosen friends of God, we honor God Himself.

332. Q. Does the first Commandment forbid us to pray to the saints? A. The first Commandment does not forbid us to pray to the saints.

333. Q. What do we mean by praying to the saints? A. By praying to the saints we mean the asking of their help and prayers.

340. Q. Does the first Commandment forbid us to honor relics? A. The first Commandment does not forbid us to honor relics, because relics are the bodies of the saints or objects directly connected with them or with our Lord.

341. Q. Does the first Commandment forbid the making of images? A. The first Commandment does forbid the making of images if they are made to be adored as gods, but it does not forbid the making of them to put us in mind of Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother, and the saints.

342. Q. Is it right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ
and His saints?
A. It is right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ and
His saints, because they are the representations and memorials of them.

343. Q. Is it allowed to pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics of the saints? A. It is not allowed to pray to the crucifix or images and relics of the saints, for they have no life, nor power to help us, nor sense to hear us.

344. Q. Why do we pray before the crucifix and the images and relics of the saints? A. We pray before the crucifix and images and relics of the saints because they enliven our devotion by exciting pious affections and desires, and by reminding us of Christ and of the saints, that we may imitate their virtues.

LESSON