What every Catholic Should Know

The contents of this page are taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Daily Roman Missal: According to the Roman MMissal Third Edition, Midwest Theological Gorum, Woodbridge Il.2012, by Fev. James Socias

The Ten Commandments

1. I am the Lord, your God, you shall not have strange God's before me.

2.You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.

4. Honor your father and your mother.

5. You shall not kill.

6. You shall not commit adultery.

7. You shall not steal.

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.

The Ten Commandments

The Precepts of the Church

1. You shall attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation and rest from servile work.

This precept requires the completion of Sunday observance by participation in the principal liturgical feasts that honor the mysteries of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. It requires, also, abstinence from those labors and business concerns that impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy that is proper to the Lord's Day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body.

2. You shall confess your sins at least once a year.

This precept ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which continues Baptism's work of conversion and forgiveness.

3. You shall receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter Season.

This precept guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord's body and blood in connection with the Pascal Feasts, the origin and center of Christian liturgy.

4. You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.

This precept ensures the times of ascesis and penance that prepare us for the liturgical feasts; they help us acquire freedom of heart and mastery over our instincts.

5. You shall help provide for the needs of the Church.

This precept requires the faithful to contribute to the Church according to their own abilities.

Daily Roman Missal; According to the Roman Missal Third Addition,Midwest Theological Forum, Woodbridge, Il. 2003 Published by Rev. James Socias

The Precepts of the Church

Days of Penance

1. The time of Lent and all Fridays of the year are, throughout the universal Church, days and times especially appropriate for spiritual excises; penitential liturgies; pilgrimages, as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial, such as fasting and almsgiving.

2. Abstinence from meat (or some other food) or other penitential practice, according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops, is to be observed on each Friday of the year unless it is a solemnity. Fast and abstinence from meat are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

3. All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the law of abstinence. All adults (eighteen years or older) are bound by the law of fast up to the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by law of fast or abstinence are educated nevertheless in an authentic sense of penance.

Days of Penance

Works of Mercy

The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor's spiritual and bodily necessities. Giving alms to the poor is just one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity; it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.

Corporal Works of Mercy

1. Feeding the hungry.

2. Giving drink to the thirsty.

3. Clothing the naked.

4. Sheltering the homeless.

5. Visiting the sick.

6. Visiting the imprisoned.

7. Burying the dead.

Spiritual Works of Mercy

1. Counseling the doubtful.

2. Instructing the ignorant.

3. Admonishing the sinner.

4. Comforting the afflicted.

5. Forgiving offenses.

6. Bearing wrongs patiently.

7. Praying for the living and the dead.

Works of Mercy

The Seven Virtues

The Catholic Church speaks of Cardinal Virtues and Theological Virtues. A virtue is a habitual disposition to do good. Among all the virtues, there are four that play a pivotal role and accordingly are called cardinal. The theological virtues disposes Christians to live in close relationship with the Holy Trinity. These virtues have God for their origin, their motive, and their object - God known by faith, God hoped in and God loved for His own sake.

Theological Virtues

1. Faith

-Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that He has said and revealed to us and that holy Church proposes for our belief because He is truth itself.

-The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. But faith apart from works is dead: when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of His body.

-The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it...Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation.

2. Hope

-Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promise and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

-The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness that God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspires a man's activities and purifies them, so as to order them to the kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.

-Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes.

3. Charity

-Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

-Jesus makes charity the new commandment...'This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.' The Lord asks us to love as He does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ Himself.

-Charity is superior to all virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues. The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which 'binds everything together in perfect harmony'.

-The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands before God as a slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a son, as children responding to the love of Him Who 'first loved us'.

Cardinal Virtues

1. Prudence

-Prudence disposes the practical reason to discern in every circumstance one's true good and to choose the right means for achieving it.

2. Justice

-Justice consists in the firm and constant will to give God and neighbor their due.

3. Fortitude

-Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of good.

4. Temperance

-Temperance moderates the attraction of the pleasures of the senses and provides balance in the use of created goods.

The Seven Virtues

The 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit belong in their fullness to Christ, the Son of David. They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.

1. Wisdom

-Improves our loving knowledge of God and all that leads to and comes from Him, allowing us to enjoy His presence.

2. Understanding

-Perfects our perception of the mysteries of the Faith, enabling us to penetrate more deeply into the divine truths revealed by God.

3. Counsel

-Helps us to judge promptly, correctly, and according to the will of God.

4. Fortitude

-Makes us steadfast in the Faith, constant in struggle, and faithful in perseverance.

5. Knowledge

-Enables us to discover the supernatural truths contained in God's creation and reveals the path that we should follow on our journey to heaven.

6. Piety

-Teaches us the meaning of divine filiation, leading to a true love for God as a Father and for all human beings as His children.

7. Fear of the Lord

-Increases our sense of respect in the presence of an all-powerful and loving God.

The 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The more we live out the Theological Virtues and practice the Cardinal Virtues, acting and living according to the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, the more we will develop the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in our heart and souls.

1. Charity

2. Joy

3. Peace

4. Patiance

5. Kindness

6. Goodness

7. Generosity

8. Gentleness

9. Faithfulness

10. Modesty

11. Self Control

12. Chastity

The 12 Fruits of the Holy Spirit

The 7 Capital Sins and Opposed Virtues

The Capital Sins can be classified according to the virtues they oppose. They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices.

Capital Sins Virtues Opposed

1. Pride Humility

2. Covetousness Liberality

3. Lust Chastity

4. Anger Meekness

5. Gluttony Temperance

6. Envy Brotherly Love

7. Sloth Diligence

The 7 Capital Sins

The 7 Sacraments

The [seven] Sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusred to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.

1. Baptism

By which we are born into the new life of Christ.

The Fruits of the Sacrament are:

-Remission of Original Sin

-Birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of the Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.

-Incorporation into the Church, the Body of Christ, and participation in the priesthood of Christ.

-The imprinting, on the soul, of an indelible spiritual sign, the Character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship. Because of this character, Baptism cannot be repeated.

2. Confirmation

By which we are more perfectly bound to the Church and enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit.

The Fruits of the Sacrament are:

-An increase in and deepening of baptismal grace.

-A deepening of one's roots in the divine filiation, which makes one cry "Abba, Father!"

-A firming of one's unity with Christ.

-An increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

-A strengthening of one's bond with the Church and closer association with her mission.

-Special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the Faith by word and action as a true witness of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and to never be ashamed of the Cross.

-The imprinting, as at baptism, of a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian's soul. Because of this character, one can receive this Sacrament only once in one's life.

3. Holy Eucharist

By which Christ associates His Church and all her members with the sacrifice of the Cross.

The Fruits of the sacrament are:

-An increase in the communicant's union with Christ.

-Forgiveness of venial sins.

-Preservation from grave sins.

-A Strengthening of the bonds of charity between communicant and Christ.

-A strengthening of the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.

4. Reconciliation or Penance

By which sins, after baptism, are forgiven.

The Fruits of the sacrament are:

-Reconciliation with God: The penitent recovers sanctifying grace.

-Reconciliation with the Church.

-Remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins.

-Remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin.

-Peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation.

-An increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.

5. Anointing of the Sick

By which special grace is conferred during grave illness or old age.

The Fruits of the Sacrament are:

-Unity with the passion of Christ, for the sick person's own good and that of the whole Church.

-Strength, peace, and courage to endure as a Christian the sufferings of illness or old age.

-Forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the Sacrament of Penance.

-Restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of the soul.

-Preparation for entering eternal life.

6. Holy Orders

By which the task of serving in the name and in the Person of Christ is conferred.

The Fruits of the sacrament are:

-The mission and faculty ("the sacred power") to act in persona Christi.

-Configuration to Christ as Priest, Teacher, and Pastor.

-The imprinting, as in Baptism, of an indelible character that cannot be repeated or conferred temporarily.

7. Holy Matrimony

By which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love.

The Fruits of the Sacrament for the spouses are:

-The grace to love each other with the love with which Christ loved His Church.

-A perfecting of their human love.

-A strengthening of their indissoluble unity.

-Sanctification on their way to Heaven.

-The grave to "help one another attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children.

-An integration into God's covenant with man: Authentic married love is caught up into divine love.

The 8 Beatitudes

"The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness. This desire is of divine origin. God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw us to the One Who alone can fulfill it. They 'teach man the final end to which God calls us: the Kingdom, the vision of God, participation in the divine nature, eternal life, filiation, rest in God. "They are the heart of Jesus' preaching. "They continue the promises made to the Chosen People from the time op Abraham to the time of Christ, fulfilling the promises by ordering them to no longer merely the possession of a territory, but also to the Kingdom of heaven." (C.C.C. 1716, 1718, 1725-1726)

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

3. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be satisfied.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you

and utter every kind of evil against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

The Four Marks of the Church

The Creed spells out for us the Four Marks of the Church. They are the evidence of the working and presence of the Holy Spirit with and in the Church.

The Church is:

1. One

2. Holy

3. Catholic

4. Apostolic

The 4 Marks of the Church

Summary of Christian Beliefs

We are required to know and to believe:

1. That there is one supreme, eternal infinite God, the creator of Heaven and earth.

2. That the good will be rewarded by Him forever in Heaven, and that the wicked who die unrepentant will be punished forever in Hell.

3. That in the Holy Trinity there are three Persons, coeternal, coequal: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

4. That the Second Person of the Holy Trinity became man and died on the cross to save us.

5. The tenets of the Apostles Creed.

6. In the commandments of God and the Church.

7. That the Seven Sacraments were instituted by Christ to give us grace; especially, that Baptism is necessary and that the Eucharist is a pledge of our future glory.

8. That the Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, which together form one sacred deposit of the Word of God, are entrusted to the Church.

9. Whatever God teaches us by His Church, who in her teaching cannot deceive us or be deceived.

"The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys [this] infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful, he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals...The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme 'Magisterium', above all in an Ecumenical Council. When the Church through its Supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine for beleif as being divinely revealed and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions must be adhered to withthe obedience of faith." CCC 981