For The Restoration Of The Church And The Triumph Of The Immaculate Heart
A. Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist:
A. We are united to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist by means of Holy Communion.
A. Holy Communion is the receiving of the body and blood of Christ.
A. To make a good Communion it is necessary to be in the state of sanctifying grace, to have a right intention, and to obey the laws of fasting. (See Q. 257.)
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.
To receive plentifully the graces of Holy Communion it is not enough to be free from mortal sin, but we should be free from all affection to venial sin, and should make acts of faith, hope, and love.
A. The fast necessary for Holy Communion is to abstain from all food, beverages, and alcoholic drinks for one hour before Holy Communion. Water may be taken at any time. The sick may take food, non-alcoholic drinks, and any medicine up to Communion time. *
* This answer has been changed in the 1977 printing to bring it up to date with the current rules.
A. Any one in danger of death is allowed to receive Holy Communion when not fasting or when it is necessary to save the Blessed Sacrament from insult or injury.
A. We are bound to receive Holy Communion, under pain of mortal sin, during the Easter time and when in danger of death.
A. It is well to receive Holy Communion often, as nothing is a greater aid to a holy life than often to receive the Author of all grace and the Source of all good.
A. After Holy Communion we should spend some time in adoring our Lord, in thanking Him for the grace we have received, and in asking Him for the blessings we need.
A. The bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ at the Consecration in the Mass.
A. The Mass is the unbloody sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ.
A. A sacrifice is the offering of an object by a priest to God alone, and the consuming of it to acknowledge that He is the Creator and Lord of all things.
A. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross.
A. The Mass is the same sacrifice as that of the Cross because the offering and the priest are the same-Christ our Blessed Lord; and the ends for which the sacrifice of the Mass is offered are the same as those of the sacrifice of the Cross.
A. The ends for which the sacrifice of the Cross was offered were:
A. Yes; the manner in which the sacrifice is offered is different. On the Cross Christ really shed His blood and was really slain; in the Mass there is no real shedding of blood nor real death, because Christ can die no more; but the sacrifice of the Mass, through the separate consecration of the bread and the wine, represents His death on the Cross.
A. We should assist at Mass with great interior recollection and piety and with every outward mark of respect and devotion.
A. The best manner of hearing Mass is to offer it to God with the priest for the same purpose for which it is said, to meditate on Christ's sufferings and death, and to go to Holy Communion.
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.
A. We should receive Extreme Unction when we are in danger of death from sickness, or from a wound or accident.
A. We should not wait until we are in extreme danger before we receive Extreme Unction, but if possible we should receive it whilst we have the use of our senses.
A. The effects of Extreme Unction are:
A. By the remains of sin I mean the inclination to evil and the weakness of the will which are the result of our sins, and which remain after our sins have been forgiven.
A. We should receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction in the state of grace, and with lively faith and resignation to the will of God.
A. The priest is the minister of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.
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.
A. To receive Holy Orders worthily it is necessary to be in the state of grace, to have the necessary knowledge and a divine call to this sacred office.
A. Christians should look upon the priests of the Church as the messengers of God and the dispensers of His mysteries.
A. Bishops can confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders.
A. The Sacrament of Matrimony is the Sacrament which unites a Christian man and woman in lawful marriage.
A. A Christian man and woman cannot be united in lawful marriage in any other way than by the Sacrament of Matrimony, because Christ raised marriage to the dignity of a Sacrament.
A. The bond of Christian marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power.
A. The effects of the Sacrament of Matrimony are:
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.
A. The Church alone has the right to make laws concerning the Sacrament of marriage, though the state also has the right to make laws concerning the civil effects of the marriage contract.
A. The Church does forbid the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion or no religion at all.
The Church forbids the marriage of Catholics with persons who have a different religion or no religion at all, because such marriages generally lead to indifference, loss of faith, and to the neglect of the religious education of the children.
A. Many marriages prove unhappy because they are entered into hastily and without worthy motives.
A. Christians should prepare for a holy and happy marriage by receiving the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist; by begging God to grant them a pure intention and to direct their choice; and by seeking the advice of their parents and the blessing of their pastors.
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.
A. The difference between the Sacraments and the sacramentals is:
A. The chief sacramental used in the Church is 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.
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.
A. The sign of the Cross is a profession of faith in the chief mysteries of our religion because it expresses the mysteries of the Unity and Trinity of God and of the Incarnation and death of our Lord.
A. The words, In the name, express the Unity of God; the words that follow, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, express the mystery of the Trinity.
A. The sign of the Cross expresses the mystery of the Incarnation by reminding us that the Son of God, having become man, suffered death on the cross.
A. Another sacramental in very frequent use 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.
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.
A. There is another means of obtaining God's grace, and it 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.
A. Prayer is necessary to salvation, and without it no one having the use of reason can be saved.
A. We should pray particularly on Sundays and holydays, every morning and night, in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions.
A. We should pray:
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.
A. Prayers said with willful distractions are of no avail.
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.
A. The Commandments which contain the whole law of God are these two:
A. These two Commandments of the love of God and of our neighbor contain the whole law of God because all the other Commandments are given either to help us to keep these two, or to direct us how to shun what is opposed to them.
A. The Commandments of God are these ten.
A. God Himself gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. and Christ our Lord confirmed them.
A. The first Commandment is: I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
A. The first Commandment helps us to keep the great Commandment of the love of God because it commands us to adore God alone.
A. We adore God by faith, hope, and charity, by prayer and sacrifice.
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.
A. Those who make use of spells and charms, or who believe in dreams, in mediums, spiritists, fortunetellers and the like, sin against the first Commandment, because they attribute to creatures perfections which belong to God alone.
A. Sins against faith, hope, and charity are also sins against the first Commandment.
A. A person sins against faith:
A. We fail to try to know what God has taught by neglecting to learn the Christian doctrine.
A. They who do not believe all that God has taught are the heretics and infidels.
A. They who neglect to profess their belief in what God has taught are all those who fail to acknowledge the true Church in which they really believe.
A. They who fail to profess their faith in the true Church in which they believe cannot expect to be saved while in that state, for Christ has said: " Whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven."
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. "Whosoever," says Christ, "shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven."
A. The sins against hope are presumption and despair.
A. Presumption is a rash expectation of salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain it.
A. Despair is the loss of hope in God's mercy.
A. We sin against the love of God by all sin, but particularly by mortal sin.
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.
A. The first Commandment does not forbid us to pray to the saints.
A. By praying to the saints we mean the asking of their help and prayers.
A. We know that the saints hear us, because they are with God, who makes our prayers known to them.
A. We believe that the saints will help us because both they and we are members of the same Church. and they love us as their brethren.
A. The saints and we are members of the same Church, because the Church in heaven and the Church on earth are one and the same Church, and all its members are in communion with one another.
A. The communion of the members of the Church is called the communion of saints.
A. The communion of saints means the union which exists between the members of the Church on earth with one another, and with the blessed in heaven and with the suffering souls in purgatory.
A. The following benefits are derived from the communion of saints:--the faithful on earth assist one another by their prayers and good works, and they are aided by the intercession of the saints in heaven, while both the saints in heaven and the faithful on earth help the souls in purgatory.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A. The second Commandment is: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
A. We are commanded by the second Commandment to speak with reverence of God and of the saints, and of all holy things, and to keep our lawful oaths and vows.
A. An oath is the calling upon God to witness the truth of what we say.
A. We may take an oath when it is ordered by lawful authority or required for God's honor or for our own or our neighbor's good.
A. To make an oath lawful it is necessary that what we swear to, be true, and that there be a sufficient cause for taking an oath.
A. A vow is a deliberate promise made to God to do something that is pleasing to Him.
A. Not to fulfill our vows is a sin, mortal or venial, according to the nature of the vow and the intention we had in making it.
A. The second Commandment forbids all false, rash, unjust, and unnecessary oaths, blasphemy, cursing, and profane words.
A. The third Commandment is: Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
A. By the third Commandment we are commanded to keep holy the Lord's day and the holydays of obligation, on which we are to give our time to the service and worship of God.
A. We are to worship God on Sundays and holydays of obligation by hearing Mass, by prayer, and by other good works.
A. The Sabbath day and the Sunday are not the same. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, and is the day which was kept holy in the Old Law; the Sunday is the first day of the week, and is tile day which is kept holy in the New Law.
A. The Church commands us to keep the Sunday holy instead of the Sabbath because on Sunday Christ rose from the dead, and on Sunday He sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles.
A. The third Commandment forbids all unnecessary servile work and whatever else may hinder the due observance of the Lord's day.
A. Servile works are those which require labor rather of body than of mind.
A. Servile works are lawful on Sunday when the honor of God, the good of our neighbor, or necessity requires them.
A. The fourth Commandment is: Honor thy father and thy mother.
A. We are commanded by the fourth Commandment to honor, love, and obey our parents in all that is not sin.
A. We are also bound to honor and obey our bishops, pastors, magistrates, teachers, and other lawful superiors.
A. It is the duty of parents and superiors to take good care of all under their charge and give them proper direction and example.
A. The fourth Commandment forbids all disobedience, contempt, and stubbornness towards our parents or lawful superiors.
A. The fifth Commandment is: Thou shalt not kill.
A. We are commanded by the fifth Commandment to live in peace and union with our neighbor, to respect his rights, to seek his spiritual and bodily welfare, and to take proper care of our own life and health.
A. The fifth Commandment forbids all willful murder, fighting, anger, hatred, revenge, and bad example.
A. The sixth Commandment is: Thou shalt not commit adultery.
A. We are commanded by the sixth Commandment to be pure in thought and modest in all our looks, words, and actions.
A. The sixth commandment forbids all unchaste freedom with another's wife or husband; also all immodesty with ourselves or others in looks, dress, words, or actions.
A. The sixth Commandment does forbid the reading of bad and immodest books and newspapers.
A. The seventh Commandment is: Thou shalt not steal.
A. By the seventh Commandment we are commanded to give to all men what belongs to them and to respect their property.
A. The seventh Commandment forbids all unjust taking or keeping what belongs to another.
A. We are bound to restore ill-gotten goods, or the value of them, as far as we are able; otherwise we can. not be forgiven.
We are bound to repair the damage we have unjustly caused.
A. The eighth Commandment is: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
A. We are commanded by the eighth Commandment to speak the truth in all things and to be careful of the honor and reputation of every one.
A. The eighth Commandment forbids all rash judgments, backbiting, slanders, and lies.
A. They who have lied about their neighbor and seriously injured his character must repair the injury done as far as they are able, otherwise they will not be forgiven.
A. The ninth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.
A. We are commanded by the ninth Commandment to keep ourselves pure in thought and desire.
A. The ninth Commandment forbids unchaste thoughts, desires of another's wife or husband, and all other unlawful impure thoughts and desires.
A. Impure thoughts and desires are always sins, unless they displease us and we try to banish them.
A. The tenth Commandment is: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.
A. By the tenth Commandment we are commanded to be content with what we have. and to rejoice in our neighbor's welfare.
A. The tenth Commandment forbids all desires to take or keep wrongfully what belongs to another.
A. The chief commandments of the Church are six:
A. It is a mortal sin not to hear Mass on a Sunday or a holyday of obligation, unless we are excused for a serious reason. They also commit a mortal sin who, having others under their charge, hinder them from hearing Mass, without a sufficient reason.
A. Holydays were instituted by the Church to recall to our minds the great mysteries of religion and the virtues and rewards of the saints.
A. We should keep the holydays of obligation as we should keep the Sunday.
A. By fast-days I mean days on which we are allowed but one full meal.
A. By days of abstinence I mean days on which we are forbidden to eat flesh-meat, but are allowed the usual number of meals.
A. The Church commands us to fast and abstain, in order that we may mortify our passions and satisfy for our sins.
A. The Church commands us to abstain from flesh-meat on Fridays, in honor of the day on which our Savior died.
A. By the command of confessing at least once a year is meant that we are obliged, under pain of mortal sin, to go to confession within the year.
A. We should confess frequently, if we wish to lead a good life.
A. Children should go to Confession when they are old enough to commit sin, which is commonly about the age of seven years.
A. He who neglects to receive Communion during the Easter time commits a mortal sin.
A. The Easter time is, in this country, the time between the first Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday.
A. We are obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors, and to bear our share in the expenses of the church and school.
A. The meaning of the commandment not to marry within the third degree of kindred is that no one is allowed to marry another within the third degree of blood relationship.
A. The command not to marry privately means that none should marry without the blessing of God's priests or without witnesses.
A. The meaning of the precept not to solemnize marriage at forbidden times is that during Lent and Advent the marriage ceremony should not be performed with pomp or a nuptial Mass.
A. A nuptial Mass is a Mass appointed by the Church to invoke a special blessing upon the married couple.
A. Catholics should be married at a nuptial Mass, because they thereby show greater reverence for the holy Sacrament and bring richer blessings upon their wedded life.
A. Christ will judge us immediately after our death, and on the last day.
A. The judgment we have to undergo immediately after death is called the Particular Judgment.
A. The judgment which all men have to undergo on the last day is called the General Judgment.
A. Christ judges men immediately after death to reward or punish them according to their deeds.
A. The rewards or punishments appointed for men's souls after the Particular Judgment are Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell.
A. Hell is a state to which the wicked are condemned, and in which they are deprived of the sight of God for all eternity, and are in dreadful torments.
A. Purgatory is a state in which those suffer for a time who die guilty of venial sins, or without having satisfied for the punishment due to their sins.
A. The faithful on earth can help the souls in Purgatory by their prayers, fasts, alms-deeds; by indulgences, and by having Masses said for them.
A. There is need of a General Judgment, though every one is judged immediately after death, that the providence of God, which, on earth, often permits the good to suffer and the wicked to prosper, may in the end appear just before all men.
A. Our bodies will share in the reward or punishment of our souls, because through the resurrection they will again be united to them.
A. The bodies of the just will rise glorious and immortal.
A. The bodies of the damned will also rise, but they will be condemned to eternal punishment.
A. Heaven is the state of everlasting life in which we see God face to face, are made like unto Him in glory. and enjoy eternal happiness.
A. We should bear always in mind these words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul, or what exchange shall a man give for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then will He render to every man according to his works."
© 2013 Created by DM.