Catholic Pocket Dictionary and Cyclopedia

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - Preface

4 THE object in compiling a Catholic Pocket Dictionary and Cyclopedia was to provide a work of ready reference and to give the necessary information in a condensed form. The large number of subjects included, naturally, required the economy of space. No attempt, therefore, has been made to dwell on questions that are obsolete or of little interest to the general reader. The demand for a Catholic Pocket Dictionary and Cyclopedia containing a brief explanation of the doctrines, discipline, rites, ceremonies and councils of the Church, as well as an abridged account of the Religious Orders and an explanation of important facts in Church History, has been so great that I hope all those seeking knowledge on the subjects treated herein will find it a useful book.

5 JAMES J. MCGOVERN D. D.

6 >Arch-Diocese of Chicago. Feast of the Assumption of the B. V. M. August 16.1906.

Section A: Abbot to Ave Maria

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - A

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ABBOT

13 The "father" or superior of a community of men living under vows and according to a particular rule. The transference of the idea of fatherhood to the relation between the head of a congregation or a religious community and his subjects is so natural that already in the apostolic times we find St. Paul re' minding the Corinthians that they had not many fathers in Christ ("for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you," &c.), notwithstanding the apparent prohibition in the gospel of St. Matthew. But it was customary to call bishops by the Greek word for father; hence the corresponding designation for the head of a community of monks was taken, to avoid confusion, from the Chaldaic form (abba, abbas) of the word which means "father" in the Semitic languages.

ABJURATION OF HERESY

16 This is required as a preliminary to baptism, before the convert makes the confession of faith.

ABLUTION

19 A name given, in the rubrics of the Mass, to the water and wine with which the priest who celebrates Mass washes his thumbs and index finger after communion. When he has consumed the Precious Blood, the priest purifies the chalice; he then, saying in a low voice a short prayer prescribed by the Church, holds his thumbs and index fingers, which have touched the Blessed Sacrament and may have some particle of it adhering to them, over the chalice, while the server pours wine and water upon them. He then drinks the ablution and dries his lips and the chalice with the mundatory. This ceremony witnesses to the reverence with which the Church regards the Body and Blood of Christ, and to her anxiety that none of that heavenly food should be lost.

ABSOLUTION

22 Classical authors use the Latin word absolutio (literally, unbinding or unloosing) to signify acquittal from a criminal charge, and ecclesiastical writers have adopted the term, employing it to denote a setting free from crime or penalty. But, as crime and its penalties are regarded even by the Church from very different points of view, "absolution" in its ecclesiastical use bears several senses, which it is important to distinguish from each other.

23 I. Absolution from Sin is a remission of sin which the priest, by authority received from Christ, makes in the Sacrament of Penance. It is not a mere announcement of the gospel, or a bare declaration that God will pardon the sins of those who repent, but as the Council of Trent defines (sess. xiv. can. 9), it is a judicial act by which a priest as judge passes sentence on the penitent.

24 With regard to absolution thus understood, it is to be observed-

25 First, that it can be given by none but priests, since to them alone has Christ committed the necessary power; and,

26 Secondly, that since absolution is a judicial sentence, the priest must have authority or jurisdiction over the person absolved. The need of jurisdiction, in order that the absolution may be valid, is an article of faith defined in the council of Trent (sess. xiv. cap. 7), and it follows from the very nature of absolution as defined above, since the reason of things requires that a judge should not pass sentence except on one who is placed under him, as the subject of his court. This jurisdiction may be ordinary- i. e., it may flow from the office which the confessor holds; or delegated – i.e., it may be given to the Confessor by one who has ordinary jurisdiction with power to confer it on others, as he delegates. Thus a bishop has ordinary jurisdiction over seculars, or religious who are not exempt, in his diocese, and within its limits he can delegate jurisdiction to priests secular or regular. Again, the prelates of religious orders exempt from the authority of the bishop, have jurisdiction, more or less ample, within their own order, and they can absolve, or delegate power to absolve, the members of the order who are subject to them; nor is it possible, ordinarily speaking, for the bishop, or a priest who has his powers from the bishop only, to absolve such religious. Moreover, a bishop or a prelate of a religious order, in conferring power to absolve his subjects, may reserve the absolution of certain sins to himself. The Church; however, supplies all priests with power to absolve persons in danger of death, at least if they cannot obtain a priest with the usual "faculties" or powers to absolve.

27 Thirdly, absolution must be given in words which express the efficacy of absolution, viz., forgiveness of sin. The Roman Ritual prescribes the form "I absolve thee from thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

28 II. Absolution from censurer is widely different from absolution from sins, because whereas the latter gives grace, removes guilt, and reconciles the sinner with God, the former merely removes penalties imposed by the Church, and reconciles the offender with her.

III

25 Absolution for the dead (pro defunctis). A short form, imploring eternal rest and so indirectly remission of the penalties of sin, said after a funeral Mass over the body of the dead person, before it is removed from the church.

26 IV. Absolutions in the Breviary. Certain short prayers said before the lessons in matins and before the chapter at the end of prime. Some of these prayers ex-press or imply petition for forgiveness of sin, and this circumstance probably explains the origin of the name Absolution which has been given to such prayers or blessings.

ABSTINENCE

28 Abstinence in its restricted and special sense, denotes the depriving ourselves of certain kinds of food and drink in a rational way and for the good of the soul. On a fasting day, the Church requires us to limit the quantity, as well as the kind, of our food; on an abstinence-day, the limit imposed affects only the nature of the food we take.

ACOLYTE

31 Acolyte, from "to follow"; and here, to follow as a server or ministrant; a name given to the highest of the four minor orders. It is the duty of the acolyte to supply wine and water and to carry the lights at the Mass; and the bishop ordains him for these functions by putting the cruets and a candle into his hand, accompanying the action with words indicating the nature of the office conferred.

ACTS OF THE MARTYRS

34 "Acta" is technically used in Latin (1) for the proceedings in a court of justice, and (2) for the official record of such proceedings, including the preliminaries of the trial, the actions and speeches of the contending parties, the sentence of the judge; which last, when it had been committed td the Acta, was proclaimed aloud by the public crier. "Acta martyrum," then, in its strict* and original sense, meant the official and registered account of a martyr's trial and sentence. The early Christians were anxious to preserve these accurate narratives of the witness which their brethren made to the truth of the Christian religion.

ADMINISTRATOR

37 When a bishop is lawfully absent from his diocese for a prolonged period, the Pope sometimes grants him an "apostolic administrator" to take charge of the see. So, too, when a prince was appointed to a bishopric before he was capable of governing it.

38 The name. is commonly applied to a priest in charge of a parish, but who is not himself the rector of the parish. Thus, a bishop's parish is under the care of an administrator.

ADOPTION

40 The Roman law held that by adoption a civil or legal kindred was established between the parties, which in many respects had the same effects as natural kindred. To this as a general principle the canon law adhered. But since, in proportion to the degree in which the adoptive was assimilated to the real relationship, impediments to marriage were multiplied, it became necessary in the interest of Christian society to restrict the effects of adoption within reasonable limits.

ADVENT, SEASON OF

43 The period, of between three and four weeks from Advent Sunday (which is always the Sunday nearest to the feast of St. Andrew) to Christmas eve, is named by the Church the season of Advent. During it she desires that her children should practise fasting, works of penance, meditation, and prayer, in order to prepare themselves for celebrating worthily the coming (adventum) of the Son of God in the flesh, to promote His spiritual advent within their own souls, and to school themselves to look forward with hope and joy to His second advent, when He shall come again to judge mankind.

AFFINITY

46 Affinity in the proper sense of the word, is the connection which arises from cohabitation between each one of the two parties cohabiting, and the blood-relations of the other. It is regarded an impediment to marriage in the Jewish, Roman, and canon law of the Church.

AGAPE

49 A name given in Jude 12 to the brotherly feasts of the early Christians, which are described at length in 1 cor. xi.

AGE, CANONICAL

52 The Church, like the State, fixes certain ages at which her subjects become capable of incurring special obligations, enjoying special privileges, of entering on special states of life, or of holding office and dignity. The following is a summary of the principal determinations regarding age, so far as they affect (1) the ordinary life of a Christian, (2) the ecclesiastical and religious state. It must be observed that the canonical age is reckoned from the day of birth, not from that of baptism.

53 1. With regard to ordinary Christians. The age of reason is generally supposed to begin about the seventh year, though of course it may come earlier in some cases, later in others. At that time a child becomes capable of mortal sin, and so of receiving the sacraments of penance and extreme unction, which are the remedies for post-baptismal sin. The Holy Eucharist and Confirmation, according to the discipline of the Church, are usually given some time after the use of reason has been attained, when the child has received some instruction in Christian doctrine, and is able to understand the nature of these sacraments. Further, at seven years of age, a child becomes subject to the law of the Church (e. g. with regard to abstinence, Sunday Mass, &c.),and can contract an engagement of marriage.

54 The age of puberty begins in the case of males at fourteen, in that of females at twelve. Marriages contracted by persons under these ages is null and void. Till the age of puberty is reached, no one can be required to take an oath. At twenty-one, the obligation of fasting begins; it ceases, according to the common opinion, at sixty.

55 2. With regard to religious and ecclesiastics.-At seven, a person may be tonsured. No special age is named in the canon law for the reception of minor orders. A subdeacon must have completed his twenty-first, a deacon his twenty-second, a priest his twenty-fourth, and a bishop his thirtieth year. A cleric cannot hold a simple benefice before entering on his fourteenth year; an ecclesiastical dignity-e. g. a canonry in a cathedral church- till he has completed his twenty-second year; a benefice with cure of souls attached to it, before he has begun his twenty-fifth year; a diocese, till he has completed his thirtieth year.

56 A religious cannot make his profession till he is at least sixteen years old, and has passed a year in the noviciate. He must be thirty years of age before he can hold a prelacy which involves quasi-episcopal jurisdiction. A girl must be over twelve years of age before she assumes the religious habit. A woman under forty cannot be chosen religious superior of a convent, unless it is impossible to find in the order a religious of the age required, and otherwise suitable. In this case, a religious thirty years old may be chosen .with the consent of the bishop or other superior.

AGNUS DEI

55 A prayer in the Mass, which occurs shortly before the communion-"Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, &c., give us peace."

ALB

58 A vestment of white linen reaching from head to foot and with sleeves, which the priest puts on before saying Mass, with the prayer-"Make me white, O Lord, and cleanse me," &c. It -sprang from the under-garment the tunic of the Romans and Greeks, which was usually white, although alba does not occur as a technical term for the white tunic till nearly the end of the third century.

ALLELUIA

61 From two Hebrew words united by a hyphen, meaning "praise Jah," or "praise the Lord." It occurs frequently in the last fifty psalms, but nowhere else in the Old Testament, except Tobias, c. 13.

ALL SAINTS

64 As early as the fourth century, the Greeks kept on the first Sun-day after Pentecost the feast of all martyrs and saints, and we still possess a sermon of St. Chrysostom delivered on that day.

65 About 731 Gregory XI. consecrated a chapel in St. Peter's Church in honor of all the saints, from which time All Saints' Day has been kept in Rome, as now, on the first of November. From about the middle of the ninth century, the feast came into general observance throughout the Church. It ranks as a double of the first class with an octave.

ALL SOULS' DAY

67 A solemn commemoration of, and prayer for, all the souls in Purgatory, which the Church makes on the second of November.

ALMS

70 Originally a work of mercy, spiritual or temporal, and then used to denote material gifts bestowed on the poor.

ALMONER

73 An ecclesiastic at the court of a king, or prince, or in a noble mansion, having the charge of the distribution of alms.

ALTAR

76 The Hebrew word which is usually translated "altar," means a "place of sacrifice."

77 The name occurs in early Christian writers. "There is one flesh," says St. Ignatius, the disciple of St. John, "one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one chalice for union with His blood, one altar, as one bishop." So Tertullian describes Christians as standing at the "altar of God"; and the same word "altar" is used in the Apostolic Constitutions and in the ancient liturgies.

ALTAR BREADS

79 Altar Breads are round particles made of fine wheaten flour, specially prepared for consecration in the Mass.

ALTAR-CARDS

82 As mentioned under Altar, the rubric requires that an altar-card be placed in the centre under the crucifix; custom has introduced two others, one on each side, the object of all three being to aid the priest's memory, should it fail at any .time during the celebration of Mass, though he is expected to have the prayers committed to memory. The centre card contains the "Gloria in excelsis," the "Credo," the Offertory prayers, the "Qui pridie," or beginning of the Canon, the form of consecration, the prayer before Communion, and the "Placeat," or last prayer. That at the Epistle side contains the prayer said while putting the water into the chalice, and the "Lavabo," said at the washing of the fingers. That at the Gospel side contains the prologue of St. John's Gospel (i1-14).

ALTAR-CLOTHS

85 The rubrics of the Missal require three white cloths to be placed on the altar, or two cloths of which one is doubled. They must be blessed by the bishop, or by a priest with special faculties.

AMEN

88 A Hebrew word signifying "truly," "certainly." It is preserved in its original form by the New Testament writers, and by the Church in her Liturgy. According to Benedict XIV., it indicates assent to a truth, or it is the expression of a desire, and equivalent to "so be it."

AMICE

91 Called also "humeral." A piece of he linen, oblong in shape, which the priest who is to say Mass rests for a moment on his head and then spreads on his shoulders, reciting the prayer-"Place on my head, 0 Lord, the helmet of salvation," &c.

ANATHEMA

94 Anything devoted or given over to evil, so that "anathema sit" means, "let him be accursed." St. Paul at the end of 1 Corinthians pronounces this anathema on all who do not love our blessed Savior. The Church has used the phrase "anathema sit" from the earliest times with reference to those whom she excludes from her communion either because of moral offences or because they persist in heresy. Thus one of the earliest councils - that of Elvira, held in 306 - decrees in its fifty-second canon that those who placed libelous writings in the church should be anathematized; and the First General Council anathematized those who held the Arian heresy. General councils since then have usually given solemnity to their decrees on articles of faith by appending an Anathema.

95 Neither St. Paul nor the Church of God ever wished a soul to be damned. In pronouncing anathema against willful heretics, the Church does but declare that they are excluded from her communion, and that they must, if they continue obstinate, perish eternally.

ANGEL

97 The word means messenger, and is applied in a wide sense to priests, prophets, or to the Messiahs as sent by God: Specially, however, it is used as the name of spiritual beings, created by God, but superior in nature to man.

ANGELS, FEAST OF

100 Since the fifth century churches were dedicated to the holy angels. There was a famous apparition of St. Michael on Mount Garganus, an event which Baronius places in the year 493; and this apparition gave occasion to the feast of St. Michael which the Church keeps on September 29, and which is mentioned in the martyrologies of SS. Jerome, Bede, and others, as the Dedication of St. Michael.

ANGELICALS

103 An order of nuns, following the rule of St. Augustine, founded by Luigia di Torelli, Countess of Guastalla, about 1530. She had been married twice, but being left a second time a widow when only twenty-five years of age, she resolved to devote the rest of her life and her large fortune to the service of God.

104 She founded her first convent at Milan. Her religious took the name of Angelicals in order to remind themselves whenever they uttered it of the purity of the angels. Every member adopts the name of "Angelica," prefixing it to that of a patron saint and her family name--e. g.,"Angelica Maria Anna di Gonzaga." Their constitutions were drawn up by St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan.

ANGELUS

106 By this name is denoted the practice of honoring God at morning, noon, and evening, by saying three Hail Mary's, after reciting each of the angels' salutations, to express the Christian's rejoicing trust in the mystery of the Incarnation.

ANNIVERSARY

109 An "anniversary" is defined as "that which is done for a deceased person on the expiration of a year from the day of death," and is especially understood of the celebration of Mass for the benefit of the soul.

ANNUNCIATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

112 The word signifies "declaration," or "announcement"-i. e., of the fact that God the Son was to be born of Mary-but at the very moment in which the fact was announced it actually took place; so that, in commemorating the "Annunciation," we really commemorate the Incarnation of God the Word.

ANTEPENDIUM

115 "Pallium," or frontal, varying in color according to the season, and is to be placed on the altar.

ANTIPHON

118 The word signifies "alternate utterance." St. Ignatius, one of the Apostolic Fathers, is believed to have first instituted the method of alternate chanting by two choirs, at Antioch.

APOCRYPHA

121 The early Fathers used apocrypha to denote the forged books by heretics, borrowing, perhaps, the name from the heretics themselves, who vaunted the apocryphal" or "hidden" wisdom of these writings. Later- e.g. in the "Prologus galeatus" of Jerome - apocryphal is used in a milder sense to mark simply that a book is not in the recognized canon of Scripture; and Pope Gelasius, in a decree of 494, uses the term apocryphal in a very wide manner of heretical forgeries; of books like the "Shepherd of Hermas," revered by the ancients, but not a part of Scripture; works by early Christian writers (Arnobius, Cassian, &c.) who had erred on some points of doctrine.

122 The name is now usually reserved by Catholics for books, laying claim to an origin which might entitle them to a place in the canon, or which have been supposed to be Scripture, but which have been finally rejected by the Church. In the Old Testament the most important apocryphal books are--3 and 4 Esdras, both of which are cited by early writers as Scripture, the latter being also used in the Missal and Breviary; 3 and 4 Machabees; the prayer of Manasses, which is found in Greek MSS. of the Old Testament, and is often printed, in a Latin version, in the appendix to the Vulgate; the book of Enoch, (Jude 14), which Tertullian regarded as authentic (it only exists at present in an Ethiopic version); a 151st Psalm attributed to David, which is found in Greek MSS., and in the Syriac, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions of the Psalms; eighteen psalms attributed to Solomon, written originally, according to some scholars, in Hebrew, according to others, in Greek.

123 There is a great mass of New Testament apocryphal literature. Some books, such as the "Epistle of Barnabas," the two "Epistles of Clement," the "Shepherd of Hermas," may in a certain sense be called apocryphal, because, though not really belonging to Scripture, they were quoted as such by ancient writers, or were inserted in MSS. of the New Testament. Some other books mentioned by Eusebius-vie. the "Acts of Paul," the "Apocalypse of Peter," the "Teachings of the Apostles" seem to have belonged to this better class of apocryphal literature. Besides these, Eusebius mentions apocryphal books in circulation among heretics-viz. the "Gospels" of Peter, Thomas, Matthias; the "Acts" of Andrew, John, and the rest of the Apostles.. Fragments remain of the ancient Gospels "according to the Hebrews"; "of the Nazarenes,". "according to the Egyptians," of the preaching and Apocalypse of Peter, &c., which have been repeatedly edited.

124 A great number of later forgeries have been edited by Fabricius, by Thilo, "Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti," 1831, of which work only the first volume, containing the apocryphal Gospels, appeared; and by Tischendorf ("Evangelia Apocrypha," 1876, second edition enlarged; "Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha," 1851; "Apocryphal Apocalypses," 1866). This is not the place to attempt an enumeration of these apocryphal books, but we may mention some which enjoyed a special popularity in the Church, and exercised a marked influence on Catholic literature. A number of apocryphal Gospels treat of the infancy and youth of our Lord, and of the history of his blessed Mother and foster-father. Among these the "Protevangelium of James" holds the first place. It describes the early history of Mary, our Lord's birth at Bethlehem, and the history of the wise men from the East. This gospel was much used by the Greek Fathers; portions of it were read publicly in the Eastern Church, and it was translated into Arabic and Coptic. It was prohibited for a time among the Latins, but even in the West it was much used during the middle ages. Other Gospels, such as the Arabic "Gospel of the Infant Savior," contain legendary miracles of our Lord's infancy. We have a second class of apocryphal Gospels which treat of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. Of this class is the "Gospel of Nicodemus." It is probably of very late origin, but it was a favorite book in the middle ages. The Greek text still exists, but it was also circulated, before the invention of printing, in Latin, Anglo-Saxon, German, and French. Closely connected with this Gospel are a number of documents which have sprung from very ancient but spurious "Acts of Pilate." These ancient Acts which were known to Justin and Tertullian, have perished, but they called forth several imitations which still survive. The one which is best known is a letter of Lentulus to the Roman senate describing the personal appearance of our Lord. It is a forgery of the middle ages.

125 Further, apocryphal literature is rich in "Acts of the Apostles," and here, as in the apocryphal Gospels, we had early but spurious Acts, revised and enlarged, and so originating fresh forgeries. Thus the "Acts of Paul and Thecla," in their existing form, are the recension of a very early work-forged as early at least as Tertullian's time. The fullest of all these "Acts" is the "Historia Certaminis Apostolorum." It can scarcely be older than the ninth century, but it is of considerable value, because the author has made diligent use of earlier Acts, some of which have perished.

126 Of apocryphal Epistles we have, among others, a letter of St. Paul to the Laodiceans (only existing in Latin), which, though rejected by Jerome, was accepted as canonical by many great Latin theologians of a later day, won a place in many copies of the Latin Bible, and for more than nine centuries "'hovered about the doors of the sacred canon." We may also mention a letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, and another of the Corinthians to St. Paul (both only in Armenian); letters supposed to have passed between St. Paul and Seneca (known to Jerome and Augustine); spurious letters of the Blessed Virgin, to St. Ignatius, to the inhabitants of Messina, &c. &c.

APOSTASY

124 An apostate from the faith is one who wholly abandons the faith of Christ, and joins himself to some other law, such as Judaism, Islam, Paganism, on any form of false belief.

APOSTLE

127 Signifies one who is sent. The name is given in the New Testament first of all to the twelve whom our Lord chose. "The names of the twelve apostles," St. Matthew says, "are these: the first, Simon," &c. But it is by no means restricted to them: Matthias and Paul were of course Apostles, though not of the twelve; so was Barnabas.

APOSTOLIC FATHERS

130 A name given to the Christian authors who wrote in the age succeeding that of the Apostles.

APPROBATION

133 The formal judgment of a prelate, that a priest is fit to hear confessions. It does not involve jurisdiction-i. e. a bishop does not necessarily give a priest power to hear confessions in his diocese, because he pronounces him fit to do so, though in fact a bishop always or almost always gives a secular priest jurisdiction at the time he approves him. This approbation by the bishop, or one who has quasi-episcopal jurisdiction, is needed for the validity of absolution given by a secular priest, unless the said priest has a parochial benefice. The bishop who approves must be the bishop of the place in which the confession is heard and this approbation may be limited as to time, place, and circumstances.

134 Regulars, in order to confess members of their own order, require the approval of their superiors; to confess seculars, that of the bishop of the diocese.

ARCHBISHOP

136 The terms "archbishop" and "metropolitan" have the same meaning, except that the latter implies the existence of suffragans, whereas there may be archbishops without suffragans.

ASCENSION, FEAST OF

139 Commemoration of the Ascension of Christ into Heaven.

ASCETICAL THEOLOGY

142 A name given to the science which treats of virtue and perfection and the means by which they are to be attained. Mystical theology deals with extraordinary states of prayer and union with God.

ASH WEDNESDAY

145 The first day, according to our present observance, of the forty days' fast of Lent.

ASPERGES

148 A name given to the sprinkling of the altar, clergy, and people with holy water at the beginning of High Mass by the celebrant. The name is taken from the words, "Asperges me," "Thou shalt wash me, 0 Lord, with hyssop," &c., with which the priest begins the ceremony. During the Easter season the antiphon "Vidi aquam" is substituted.

ASSUMPTION

151 After the death of her divine Son the Blessed Virgin lived under the care of St. John. The common tradition of the Church represents her as having died at Jerusalem. Her exemption from sin original and actual did not prevent her paying this common debt of humanity. The very fact that she had received a passible nature rendered her liable to death.

ATTRITION

154 as distinct from contrition, is an imperfect sorrow for sin. Contrition is that sorrow for sin which has for its motive the love of God whom the sinner has offended. Attrition arises from a motive which is indeed supernatural-that is to say, apprehended by faith-but which still falls short of contrition. Such motives are-the fear of hell, the loss of heaven, the turpitude of sin. By this last, we understand the turpitude of sin as revealed by faith. We may also, for the sake of clearness, exclude from our definition that kind of sorrow which makes a man renounce sin because he is afraid of hell, while at the same time he would be ready to offend God if he could do so without incurring the penalty.

AUGUSTINIAN ORDER

157 The Order originated in a union of several congregations in 1265 by the direction of Pope Alexander IV.

158 These congregations had their origin from a Council held in Aix-La-Chapelle in 816. They adopted the rule of life laid down by St. Augustine in a treatise entitled "De Moribus Clericorum" and in conformity with his 109th letter, and the general spirit of his teaching. The rule applied to men as well as women who had entered a religious career. Their houses soon became very numerous throughout Europe and the Augustinian Order has at present many flourishing communities in various parts of the world.

AVE MARIA

160 A familiar prayer, called also the Angelical Salutation, and which is recited at certain times of day, especially morning, noon and sunset

Section B: Baptism to Burse

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - B

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BAPTISM

169 A spiritual meaning was given to baptism by St. John the Baptist, who baptised or immersed his disciples in the Jordan, to signify the repentance and renewal by which the whole man was to be cleansed and purified. The Talmud of Babylon mentions a baptism of Jewish proselytes, but it is impossible to say when this rite arose. In any case, it is certain that when our Lord made baptism the rite of initiation into His Church, He employed a symbolism already familiar to the Jews. But Christ exalted the act to a dignity beyond the baptism of John, changing the "baptism of penance" into the sacrament of regeneration.

BAPTISMAL NAME

172 A name given in baptism, to signify that the baptised person has become a new creature in Christ. The Ritual forbids heathenish names, and advises, though it does not enjoin, the taking of a saint's name.

BAPTISMAL WATER

175 Water blessed in the font on Holy Saturday and the vigil of Pentecost, which must be used at least in solemn baptism. The priest signs the water with the cross, divides it with his hand, pouring it towards the north, south, east and west; breathes into it, and places in it the paschal candle, after which some of it is sprinkled on the people and some removed for private use. The priest then pours oil of catechumens and chrism into the water.

BAPTISTERY

178 That part of the church in which solemn baptism is administered. It should be railed off, have a gate fastened by a lock, and be adorned, if possible, with a picture of Christ's baptism of St. John. It is convenient that it should contain a chest with two compartments, one for the holy oils, the other for the salt and candle used in baptism.

BARNABITES

181 The proper designation of the religious of this order is that of "Regular Clerks of the Congregation of St. Paul"; they are popularly called Barnabites on account of a church of St. Barnabas at Milan which belonged to them in the sixteenth century. Their principal founder was St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria (who died 1539); with him were joined Bartolommeo Ferrari and Giacomo Antonio Morigena. The frequent wars by which the north of Italy had been devastated; the influx of Lutheran soldiers, whose example tended to propagate a spirit of contempt for the sacraments and the clergy; and the frequency of pestilential disorders caused by the famine and misery of the population, had produced, about 1530, a state of things which powerfully appealed to the charity and pity of the true pastors of Jesus Christ. It occurred to Zaccaria that a better way of combating these evils could not be found than by organizing a congregation of secular clergy, not going out of the world but living in it and working for it, and bound by a rule - that is, diligently attending to their own sanctification while preaching reformation to others, - "who should regenerate and revive the love of the divine worship and a truly Christian way of life by frequent preaching and the faithful administration of the Sacraments." In 1533 the foundation of such a congregation, under a special rule approved by the Holy See, was sanctioned by Clement VII. The members pronounced their vows before the Arch-.bishop of Milan, and chose Zaccaria for their superior. The order soon spread into France and Germany. In 1579 their constitutions were examined by St. Charles Bommeo, Archbishop of Milan, protector of the congregation, and being approved by him were finally confirmed. They called, and still call, their establishments colleges. They are governed by a General residing at Rome, elected for three years, and capable of re-election once. Besides the three usual vows they take a fourth, never to seek any office or ecclesiastical dignity, and to accept no post outside of their order without the permission of the Pope. The habit is merely the black soutane which was worn by secular priests in Lombardy at the time of their foundation. Their principal house is at Rome.

BASILIANS

184 This order takes its name from the great St. Basil (died 379), .bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. On his return to his own country after a long journey through Egypt, Palestine and Mesopotamia - made that' he might collect the experience of monks and solitaries living under many different rules - Basil, still thirsting for the perfect life in which self should be subdued and union with Christ attained, withdrew into a desert region of Pontus, where his mother Emelia and his sister Macrina had already established monasteries, and laid the foundation of the great order which bears his name. To those who placed themselves under his direction he gave two rules, the Great and the Little - the former containing fifty-five, the latter three hundred and thirteen articles. This twofold rule became so famous and popular in the East as to supplant all others; and at this day it alone is recognized and followed by the monks of the Greek Church. In southern Italy there were many Basilian convents, in existence before the time of St. Benedict, who regarded both the rule and its author with great veneration, and appears to have had it before him when framing his own rule. The habit of the Basilians is scarcely to be distinguished from that of the Benedictines.

BASILICA

187 This name began to be applied to Christian churches about the beginning of the fourth century. The earlier expressions were "house of prayer," "oratory," and "Lord's house," besides the term "ecclesia," or a fine stately building.

BEATIFIC VISION

190 The sight of God face to face, which constitutes the essential bliss of angels and men.

BEATITUDE

193 Or bliss, is defined by St. Thomas as that perfect good which completely appeases and satisfies the appetite. God alone can constitute man's perfect bliss, for man's will seeks the fullness of all good, and this cannot be found except in God. Had man been left without grace, then he would have found his natural beatitude in knowing God most perfectly as the author of nature, and in adhering to Him by natural love, sweetly and constantly. He would have attained this happiness, after passing successfully through his probation in this mortal life. As it is, man has been raised to a supernatural state, and his bliss consists in God, seen face to face in the heavenly country.

BEATITUDES, THE EIGHT

196 The blessings pronounced by our Lord at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. v. 3-10). In the so-called Sermon on the Plain (Luke vi. 17-22).

BENEDICAMUS D0MINO

199 I.e., "Let us bless the Lord," a form used in the breviary at the end of each hour except matins, and at the end of Mass instead of Ite, Missa est on days when the Gloria in excelsis is not said.

BENEDICTINES

202 The founder of monks in the West, St. Benedict, having first established his order at Subiaco in the vicinity of Rome removed it to Monte Cassino in 529. The rule which he compiled for his monks was regarded as replete with wisdom, and dictated by a marvelous insight into human nature, neither prescribing to all an asceticism only possible to a few, nor erring on the side of laxity. It regulated with great minuteness the mode of celebrating the divine office at the canonical hours; and eschewing all idleness, ordered that the monks, when not employed in the divine praises, or in taking necessary food and rest, should engage themselves in useful works, either manual labor, or study, or copying books, or teaching. Every monastery was to have a library, and every monk was to possess a pen and tablets. The clothing, of which the prevailing color was black, was to vary in material and warmth at the discretion of the abbots, according to the exigencies of different climates and circumstances. A singular clause in the rule, and one which was fruitful in results, was that which ordered that all persons whatever, without distinction of age, rank, or calling, should be admissible to the order of St. Benedict. If parents offered a son to the service of God in a monastery, even if he were but a boy of five years old, the monks were to receive and take full charge of him. Thus Beda was taken when only seven years old, and Orderic, the historian of Normandy, was committed by his father in his tenth year. Out of this practice of offering young boys to the monasteries a great system of monastic schools very soon arose.

203 St. Maur, a disciple of St. Benedict, founded the first Benedictine monastery in France, during his master's lifetime, at Glanfeuil, near Angers. The order was introduced into Spain about 633. The monastery on Monte Cassino was destroyed by the Lombards towards the end of the sixth century, and the monks sought refuge at Rome, where Pope Gregory gave them St. Andrew's Church. The Benedictine abbot of St.Andrew's was the person chosen by the Pope to head the mission which he sent to the Court of Ethelbert, and he will be remembered through all time as St. Augustin, the Apostle of England. Benedictine monks from England - St. Willibrord (699) and St. Boniface (750) - introduced Christianity in the Low Countries and the Rhineland. It is said that a calculation having been made in the 5rst half of the fourteenth century, it was found that up to that time twenty-four Popes, two hundred cardinals, seven thousand archbishops, fifteen thousand bishops, and a still greater number of saints, had been given to the Church by the Benedictine Order.

204 In 1618 the Benedictine House of St. Maur by its colossal patristic and historical labors, directed by such men as Mabillon, Martene, Ruinart, Rivet, and D'Achèry, rendered incalculable services to the learned world. Two such works as the "France Littèraire" and the "Recueil des Historiens," if they had accomplished nothing else, would entitle the congregation to the gratitude of all men of letters. At the present time the Benedictine Order is following up its old civilizing and colonizing energy in behalf of humanity.

BENEFICE

205 An ecclesiastical benefice is a perpetual right, established by the Church in favor of an ecclesiastical person, of receiving the profits of Church property, on account of the discharge, by such person, of a spiritual office.

BERRETTA

208 A square cap with three or sometimes four prominences or projecting corners rising from its crown. There is usually a tassel in the middle where the comers meet. It is worn by a priest as he approaches the altar to say Mass, and by ecclesiastics in general.

BIBLE

211 A letter or paper. A name given to the sacred books of the Jews and the Christians. In itself "Bible" might mean a book of whatever kind, just as its synonym "Scriptures" means originally, writings of any sort. Gradually the Jews who spoke Greek employed the word "Bible" as a convenient name for their sacred books.

212 The Church holds that the sacred Scripture is the written word of God. The Council of Trent, "following the example of the orthodox Fathers, receives with piety and reverence all the books of the Old and New Testament, since one God is the author of each." These words of the council, which are an almost verbal repetition of many early definitions, separate the Bible utterly from all other books. Of no human composition, however excellent, can it be said that God is its author. And the divine origin of Scripture implies its perfect truth. We know for certain, St. Irenaeus argues, that the Scriptures are perfect, since they are spoken by the Word of God and by the Spirit. Some few Catholic theologians have, indeed, maintained that the Scriptures may err in small matters of historical detail which in no way affect faith or morals. Nor in doing so do they contradict any express definition of Pope or council, though such an opinion has never obtained any currency in the Church. But of course the modern theories which reduce the historical accounts of the Bible to mere myths, or again which, while they allow that the Scripture contains the word of God, deny that it is the written word of God, are in sharp and obvious contradiction to the decrees of the Church.

213 The Church affirms that all Scripture is the word of God, but at the same time it maintains that there is an unwritten word of God over and above Scripture. Just as Catholics are bound to defend the authority of the Bible against those who have come to treat it as an ordinary book, so they are compelled to reject exaggeration, on the other side, according to which the word of God is contained in Scripture and in Scripture alone. The word of God (so the Council of Trent teaches) is contained both in the Bible and in Apostolical tradition, and it is the duty of a Christian to receive the one and the other with equal veneration and respect. The whole history and the whole structure of the New Testament witness to the truth and reasonableness of the Catholic view. If our Lord had meant Hiis Church to be guided by a book and by a book alone, He would have taken care that Christians should be at once provided with sacred books. As a matter of fact He did nothing of the kind. He refers those who were to embrace His doctrine not to a book, but to the living voice of His Apostles and of His Church. "He who heareth you," He said to the Apostles, "heareth me." For twenty years after our Lord's Ascension, not a single book of the New Testament was written, and all that time no Christian could appeal, as many do now, to the Bible and the Bible only, for the simple reason that the New Testament did not exist, and the faithful were evidently called upon to believe many truths for which no strict and cogent proofs could be brought from the pages of the Jewish Scriptures. Further, when the writings of the New Testament were issued, they appeared one by one, in order to meet special exigencies, nor is the least hint given that the Apostles or their disciples provided that their writings should contain the whole sum of Christian truth. In 1898 Pope Leo XIII. granted indulgences to those who devoutly read the Scriptures.

BISHOP

214 A bishop is a person who is consecrated and given a spiritual jurisdiction, and generally the government of a Diocese.

BISHOP AUXILIARY

217 When a bishop is unable, for various reasons, to perform all the functions required by his office, it is usual to assign to him a titular bishop to assist him. This auxiliary bishop, as such, has no jurisdiction; he only performs those things which belong to the episcopal office and order. He may, however, be nominated by the bishop as vicar general; in which case he has the right to exercise jurisdiction.

BISHOP IN PARTIBUS INFIDELIUM

220 A bishop consecrated to a see which formerly existed, but which has been, chiefly through the devastations of the followers of Mahomet, lost to Christendom. Such a bishop may also be described as a "Titular" bishop.

BISHOP, SUFFRAGAN

223 This name is given to a bishop in an ecclesiastical province, relatively to the metropolitan in whose province he is. Also to a titular bishop or bishop in partibus who is exercising the pontifical functions and ordinations for the ordinary bishop whom he has been invited to assist.

BLESSING

226 Blessing is in a general sense, a form of prayer begging the favor of God for the persons blessed. God is the source of all His blessing, but certain persons have special authority to bless in His name, so that this blessing is more than a mere prayer; it actually conveys God's blessing to those who are fit to receive it. Thus in the old law God said of the sons of Aaron, "They shall invoke my name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them;" and Christ said to his disciples, "Into whatsoever house you enter, first say: Peace be to this house: and, if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him." Accordingly, the Church provides for the solemn blessing of her children by the hands of her ministers.

BREVIARY

229 A Book containing an abridgement of psalms, antiphons, responses, metrical hymns, selected parts of Holy Scripture, extracts from the works of the Fathers and from the lives of the Saints.

BRIEF

232 A papal Brief is a letter issued by the Sovereign Pontiff at Rome, written on fine parchment in modern characters, subscribed by the Pope's Secretary of Briefs, and sealed with the Pope's signet-ring, the seal of the Fisherman.

BULL

235 A Papal Bull is so named from the bulla (or round leaden seal, having on one side a representation of SS. Peter and Paul, and on the other the name of the reigning Pope), which is attached to the document (by a silken cord, if it be a "Bull of Grace," and by one of hemp if a "Bull of Justice") and gives anthenticity to it.

BURSE

238 A square case into which the priest puts the corporal which is to be used in Mass.

Section C: Calendar to Curate

241 (Texto do capítulo)

Catholic Pocket Dictionary - C

244 (Texto do capítulo)

CALENDAR, ECCLESIASTICAL

247 An arrangement, founded on the Julian-Gregorian determinations of the civil year, marking the days set apart for particular religious celebration.

CANON LAW

250 From the earliest times the determinations of the Church received the name of Canons - that is, rules directory in matters of faith and conduct. Canon Law is the assemblage of rules or laws relating to faith, morals, and discipline, prescribed or propounded to Christians by ecclesiastical authority.

CANON OF THE MASS

253 That part of the Mass which begins after the "Sanctus" with the prayer "Te igitur," and ends, according to some, just before the "Pater noster," according to others, with the consumption of the Sacred Species. The name Canon is given to this part of the Mass because it contains the fixed rule according to which the Sacrifice of the New Testament is to be offered.

CANONIZATION

256 To pay honor to the dead whom the general voice of the Church declares to have lived saintly lives.

CANTATE SUNDAY

259 A name given to the fourth Sunday after Easter, from the introit of the Mass, which begins with the words "Sing to the Lord a new song."

CAPUCHINS

262 A reform of the Franciscan order instituted by Matteo di Bassi of Urbino, who, being an Observantine Franciscan at Monte Falco, and having convinced himself that the capuche or cowl worn by St. Francis was different in shape from that worn by the friars of his own time, adopted a long pointed cowl, according to what he conceived to be the original form. In 1526 he obtained the consent of Pope Clement VII. to the wearing of this habit by himself and his companions, with the further permission to live the life of hermits, and preach the gospel in every country, on condition that once in each year they should present themselves at the general chapter, wherever it might be held, of the Observantine friars. After this the order grew with great rapidity, and it has produced down to the present time numbers of men eminent for every Christian virtue, great preachers, and accomplished scholars.

CARDINAL

265 A member of the Supreme Council or Senate of the Church. The Cardinals are the advisers of the Supreme Pontiff, and at his death they elect his successor from among the members of the Sacred College.

266 There are three orders of Cardinals, Cardinal-Bishops, Cardinal-Priests and Cardinal-Deacons. The Sacred College of Cardinals consists of seventy members, six Cardinal-Bishops, fifty Cardinal-Priests and fourteen Cardinal-Deacons.

267 The first Cardinal-Bishop is Dean; the first Cardinal-Priest is First Priest; and the first Cardinal-Deacon is First Deacon of the Sacred College. The first Cardinal-Deacon announces the election of a new Pope, and the first Cardinal-Dean consecrates him.

CARMELITES, ORDER OF

268 In the 'middle of the twelfth century a crusader named Berthold vowed at the commencement of a battle that if by the mercy of God his side was victorious, he would embrace the religious life. The victory was won, and Berthold became a monk in Calabria. Soon after he left Italy, and repairing to Mount Carmel (1156) - that mountain, so conspicuous and so beautiful, which juts out into the sea to the south of Acre - took up his abode there. Everyone knows the connection of Carmel, with some of the leading incidents of the prophet's life (3 Kings xviii; 4 Kings iv). A cavern near the summit was then shown as the habitation of Elias, and the ruins of a spacious monastery, the history of which is unknown, covered the ground. Berthold found hermits living on the mountain when he arrived there, attracted by the peculiar sanctity which the residence of the great prophet had conferred on the spot; these appear to have joined him, and to have accepted along with him and his immediate followers the rule which was framed for them in 1209 by Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem. These hermits may have had a long line of predecessors, nor is there any historical or moral impossibility in the assumption that holy men had lived on the mountain without interruption since the days of Elias, although positive evidence is wanting. This belief in the possible succession of a long line of saintly anchorites was gradually merged in the fixed persuasion that the very order of Our Lady of Mount Camel, such as it was in the thirteenth and following centuries, had existed there in unbroken continuity, keeping the three vows, and with hereditary succession, from the time of Elias.

269 The rule given to the order by the patriarch Albert was in sixteen articles. It forbade the possession of property; ordered that each hermit should live in a cell by himself; nterdicted meat altogether; recommended manual labor and silence; and imposed a strict fast from the Exaltation of the Cross (Sept. 14) to Easter, Sundays being excepted.

270 The progress of the Mohammedan power in Palestine, after the illusory treaty entered into by the Emperor Frederic II. in 1229 with the Sultan Kameel, made it more and more difficult for Christians to live there in peace; and under their fifth general, Alan of Brittany, they abandoned Camel and established themselves in Cyprus (1238) and other places. After passing into Europe they found it necessary to live in common, and no longer as hermits. This, with other mitigations of the primitive rule, was sanctioned by Innocent IV., who confirmed them in 1247 under the title of Friars of Our Lady of Mount Camel. Their habit was originally striped, but ultimately the dress by which they are so well known, the brown habit with white cloak and scapular, was adopted. Many distinguished men and eminent ecclesiastics have worn their habit.

271 The glories of the order are due to the heroic virtue of a woman, St. Teresa. Carmelite nuns had first been instituted by John Soreth, general of the order in the fifteenth century. St. Teresa lived for many years in the convent of Avila, which was under the mitigated observance. Amidst great obstacles, she carried out her object of introducing a reform among the nuns by returning to the ancient rigor of the rule. She thus became the founder of the Discalced Carmelite nuns. Nor did her zeal stop here, but extended itself to a reformation of the friars, in which also, aided by the counsel of St. Peter of Alcantara, and the labors and sufferings of St. John of the Cross, who joined the new order, she was completely successful. At the time of her death, in 1852, she had assisted in the foundation of seventeen reformed convents for women and fifteen for men. The Discalced Carmelites, whose institute rapidly spread to all the Catholic countries of Europe, and to the Spanish colonies, is at present continuing the great work of St. Teresa. Several other reforms have been introduced since that of St. Teresa in various countries, which we have not space here to notice. At present Carmelite monasteries exist, In France, though they were swept away at the first revolution, they had been reintroduced, and till lately possessed some sixty houses. But the iniquitous decree of March 29, 1880, issued by the Republican Government of France, has resulted in the violent seizure of all the houses of men, and in turning the friars adrift. In Spain, we believe, they are at present numerous.

CARNIVAL

271 (from caro, vale, the time when we are about to say farewell to flesh-meat; or ubi caro valet-in allusion to the indulgence of the flesh in the days which precede the fast), the three days before Lent, though the name sometimes includes the whole period between February 3, the fast of St. Blasius, and Ash-Wednesday. The Carnival in Catholic countries, and in Rome itself, is a special season for feasting, dancing, masquerading and mirth of all sorts. In itself this custom is innocent, although the Church from Septuagesima onwards assumes the garb of penance, and prepares her children, by the saddened tone of her office, for the Lenten season. But the pleasures of the Carnival easily degenerate into riot, and the Church therefore specially encourages pious exercises at this time.

272 In 1556 the Jesuits at Macerati introduced the custom of exposing the Blessed Sacrament during the Carnival. This devotion spread through the Church, and Clement XIII., in 1765, granted a plenary indulgence on certain conditions to those who take part in it.

CARTHUSIANS, ORDER OF

274 The founder of this order was St. Bruno, in the eleventh century. Bruno was a native of Cologne, and gave proof of more than common piety, recollection, and mortification even from his tender years. When he was grown up, he was at first entered among the clergy of St. Cunibert's at Cologne, whence .he passed to Rheims, a city then celebrated for its diocesan school. Bruno made here great progress in learning, and was appointed "scholasticus"; many of the leading men of the age were his pupils. Leaving Rheims, uncertain in what way God willed him to carry out his clearly-seen vocation, he repaired to St. Robert of Molesme, the founder of the Cistercian order, by whom he was referred to St. Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble. With six companions, Bruno presented himself to the bishop, and opened to him their desire to found an institute in which the glory of God and the good of man should be sought on a foundation of rigorous austerity and self-discipline. The good bishop was overjoyed at seeing them; in their request he saw the beginning of the fulfillment of a wonderful dream which he had had the night before. Soon afterwards he led them to the desert of the Chartreuse, an upland valley in the Alps to the north of Grenoble, more than 4,000 feet above the sea, and only to be reached by, traveling a gloomy and difficult ravine.

275 Bruno accepted this site with joy, and he and his companions immediately built an oratory there, and small separate cells, in imitation of the ancient Lauras of Palestine. This was in 1086, and the origin of the Carthusian order, which takes its name from Chartreuse, is dated from this foundation. The name of Chartreuse was given to each of their monasteries; this was corrupted in England into Charterhouse.

276 St. Bruno, when he had been only two or three years at the Chartreuse, was summoned to Rome by an imperative mandate from Urban II., for the approval of his order.

277 In 1905 the Grande Chartreuse was seized by the French Government and the monks were expelled.

CASSOCK

277 A close-fitting garment reaching to the heels, which is the distinctive dress of clerics. The cassock of a secular priest is black; that of bishops and other prelates, purple; that of cardinals, red; that of the Pope, white.

CATAFALQUE

280 Anything used as a bier placed during Masses of the dead, when the corpse itself is not there, in the centre of the church, surrounded with burning lights and covered with black cloth.

CATECHISM

283 A summary of Christian doctrine, usually in the form of question and answer, for the instruction of the Christian people.

CATHEDRAL

286 The cathedral church in every diocese is that church in which the bishop has his chair or See.

CATHEDRATICUM

289 A visitation fee due from every parish church in a diocese to the bishop on the occasion of his annual visit to it. Since the Council of Trent it has been customary to pay it at the annual Synod if one is held or by annual remittance.

CELEBRANT

292 The priest who actually offers Mass, as distinct from others who assist him in doing so.

CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY

295 A law of the Church that forbids persons living in the married state to be ordained, and persons in holy orders to marry.

CENSURE

298 Censure may be defined as a spiritual penalty, imposed for the correction and amendment of offenders, by which a baptised person, who has committed a crime and is contumacious, is deprived by ecclesiastical authority of the use of certain spiritual advantages.

CHALICE

301 The cup used in Mass, for the wine which is to be consecrated.

CHALICE-VEIL

304 The veil with which the chalice is covered.

CHANCEL

307 The part of a church between the altar and the nave, so named from the rails which separated it from the nave.

CHAPLAIN

310 The priest appointed to the charge of a chapel.

CHARACTER

313 Spiritual mark indelibly impressed on the soul, by the sacrament of baptism, confirmation, and holy order.

CHASUBLE

316 The chief garment of a priest celebrating Mass. It is worn outside the other vestments.

CHRISM

319 Olive oil mixed with balm, blessed by the bishop and used by the Church in confirmation as well as in baptism, ordination, consecration of altar-stones, chalices, churches, and in the blessing of baptismal water.

CHRIST

322 "Anointed." Jesus Christ, according to the Catechism familiar to English Catholics, is "God the Son made man for us." He has therefore two natures: that of God, and that of man. As God, according to the Nicene Creed, He was born of his Father, before all worlds: He is God from God - i.e. He, being true and perfect God, proceeds from God the Father, who is also true and perfect God - He is light from light; begotten, not made, as creatures. He exists from all eternity. He is almighty, omniscient, incapable of error or of sin. At the moment of his Incarnation, He further became true man, without, however, in any way ceasing to be God.

CHRISTIANS

325 A name first given at Antioch to the followers of Christ about the year 43, as we learn from Acts. xi. 26.

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS

328 The proper title is "Brothers of the Christian Schools." This institution was founded by the Abbé Jean Baptiste de la Salle, who, after being beatified on Feb. 19, 1888, was canonized on May 24, 1900, by Leo XIII. The rule of St. J. B. de la Salle required that the Brothers who bound themselves by vow to devote their lives to teaching in the schools, and wore the religious habit, should be and remain laymen, equally with the professors and assistant teachers who were employed under them. And this has continued to be the practice of the congregation ever since. For the training of the Brothers the founder instituted a noviciate; for that of the professors, &c., a normal school. Founded at Rheims in 1685, this appears to have been the first training school for primary teachers in Europe. It was, and still is, a part of the rule, that the Brothers should work in pairs. They take the three religious vows, after having attained to at least twenty-three years. Their habit gives them an ecclesiastical appearance; it consists of a long black cassock, with a cloak over it fastened by iron clasps and a falling collar.

329 The founder lived to see the fruit of his labors in the establishment of his schools in many of the principal towns of France. He died in 1719, leaving his congregation so firmly planted that all the convulsions by which French society has since been torn have not been able to extirpate it. It has moreover spread to many countries beyond the limits of France, and has been imitated by other teaching associations.

330 It should be mentioned that a Bull of approbation in favor of the Christian Brothers was granted by Benedict XIII. in 1725, elevating them into a religious congregation.

331 In 1699, St. J. B. de la Salle established Sunday Schools, one at St. Sulpice, which was to be open from noon to three o'clock, and give secular instruction. Similar schools, open on festivals, were established by St. Charles Borromeo at Milan, about 1580.

CHURCH BOOKS OF REGISTERS

331 The registers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages and deaths.

CHURCHING OF WOMEN AFTER CHILDBIRTH

334 A blessing which the priest gives to women after childbirth according to a form prescribed in the Roman Ritual. He sprinkles the woman, who kneels at the door of the church holding a lighted candle, with holy water, and having recited the 23rd Psalm, he puts the end of his stole into her hand, and leads her into the church, saying, "Come into the temple of God. Adore the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who has given thee fruitfulness in childbearing. The woman then advances to the, altar and kneels before it, while the priest, having said a prayer of thanksgiving, blesses her, and again sprinkles her with holy water in the form of a cross. The rubric in the Ritual reserves this rite for women who have borne children in wedlock. WOMEN ARE UNDER NO STRICT OBLIGATION OF PRESENTING THEMSELVES TO BE CHURCHED, THOUGH IT IS THE "PIOUS AND LAUDABLE CUSTOM," as the Ritual says, that they ought to do so. Properly speaking, the churching of women is not counted among strictly parochial rights; still it ought to be performed by the parish priest, as appears from, a decision of the S. Congregation of Rites, December 10, 1703.

CHURCH OF CHRIST: CATHOLIC CHURCH

337 The Roman Catechism, in expounding the ninth article of the Creed, urges priests to explain the nature and authority of the Catholic Church to their flocks with special frequency and earnestness, because of the supreme importance which belongs to this point of Christian doctrine. All heresy involves a rejection of the Church's authority; and, on the other hand, it is impossible to accept the true doctrine concerning the Church, and at the same time to be a heretic. Hence, in all ages, and against all forms of error, the Fathers and Doctors of the Catholic Church have appealed to her teaching as the infallible rule of faith. If such an appeal was necessary at every time, there is a more than ordinary need at the present day for insisting upon this article of the Creed, "I believe in the holy Catholic Church."

CHURCH: PLACE OF CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY

340 A church is a building intended for the general use of the faithful, and is for this reason distinct from a chapel, which is intended for the convenience of some family, college, &c., or for an oratory, which is essentially domestic or private.

341 The principal churches in Rome are called basilicas, and these again are sub-divided into greater and patriarchal, and into minor basilicas. The chief church of a diocese is called a cathedral, and a cathedral may be patriarchal, primatial, or metropolitan, according to the dignity of the prelate who holds it. An abbatial church is the seat of ah abbot; if served by a chapter, a church is called collegiate. The title parish-church explains itself. The greater basilicas are called "most holy," while "most illustrious" and 'illustrious" are names of honor given respectively to lesser basilicas and collegiate churches, by favor of the Holy See.

342 The place on which a church is to be built is to be designated by the bishop, as is expressly ordered both by the Pontifical and canon law.

343 Churches may, in one sense, be said to be as old as Christianity itself, for places of Christian meeting are frequently mentioned in the New Testament - e. g., in 1 Cor. xi. 22, xiv. 34. At first no doubt private houses were used for this purpose, and thus St. Paul, Coloss. iv. 15, writes, "Salute the brethren who are at Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the Church that is in his house." The same expression is used of Prisca and Aquila, both at Rome, in Rom. xvi. 5; and at Ephesus, 1 Cor. xvi 19; and also of Philemon, either at Colossae or Laodicea (Philemon, 2). This state of things continued after the Apostolic age, though it is impossible to determine exactly when the gatherings in the houses of private Christians gave way to assemblies held in buildings erected for the purpose.

344 As soon as this last persecution was over, and the peace of the Church secured by Constantine, Christians began to erect churches on a magnificent scale, and, thus seized the first opportunity of manifesting that outward respect to God and His house which is characteristic of Catholics.

CIBORIUM

343 The ciborium is the name commonly given to the pyx in which the Blessed Sacrament is kept.

CISTERCIANS

346 Of the ancient and illustrious order of Citeaux, the most flourishing and prolific of all the offshoots from the great Benedictine trunk, there are now but scanty traces remaining.

347 St. Robert, the founder, the son of a gentleman of Champagne, devoted himself at an early age with all his heart to the service of God. He took the Benedictine habit, and studied carefully the rule of the great founder, from many things in which he found that the majority of the French monks deviated considerably.

348 In several monasteries over which he presided St. Robert and the monks could not agree, on account of the strict observance of the rule which he desired to introduce. In 1075 he founded a monastery, consisting of a group of cells, in the forest of Molesme, near Chatillon. Here he and others lived many years; but his thoughts still ran on the necessity of closer conformity to the rule, and as most of his followers saw things differently, he at last quitted Molesme, and, followed by twenty adherents, formed a new monastery in a desert then covered with forest and thickets, at a place called Cistercium (Citeaux), five leagues from Dijon. This was in 1098, which is regarded as the date of the foundation of the order. In Ireland there are two Cistercian abbeys, both of recent foundation, and both are in a highly flourishing condition - that of Mount Melleray, in the Co. Waterford, and that at Roscrea.

CLERICAL STATE

349 The clerical state is the rank or condition of those who are separated from the mass of the faithful, attached in a special manner to the divine service and made capable of administering the Sacraments of the Church.

CLOISTER

352 An enclosed space, usually square, surrounded by covered passages, which have continuous walls on the outer side, and rows of pillars on the inner side facing the square, in connection with monastic, cathedral, or collegiate buildings.

COADJUTOR

355 One who helps a prelate, or a priest holding a benefice, in discharging the duties of his bishopric or benefice.

COAT, THE HOLY

358 This celebrated relic is in the treasury of the cathedral of Treves, and a very ancient tradition asserts it to be identical with the seamless coat which our Savior wore at the time of his Passion.

COLLECT

361 The prayer said in the Mass after the Gloria and before the Epistle.

COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHUCH

364 Parents, and other persons invested with lawful authority, have power to make rules for those placed under them, so that things lawful in themselves become unlawful by their prohibition. The Scripture teaches plainly that the Church has this power. We are to hear the Church (Matt. xviii. 17). The Holy Ghost has placed bishops to "rule the Church" (Acts xx. 28). St. Paul , commanded Christians to keep the "precepts of the Apostles and the ancients" (Acts xv. 41).

COMMEMORATIONS OF FEASTS, ETC.

367 The Church celebrates many feasts, some movable, some fixed, it may often happen that two of them fall on the same day; or again the Church may institute the feast of a saint, just canonized, on a day already occupied by the feast of another saint.

368 The common commemorations consist of antiphons, versicles and prayers relating to the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, St. Peter and St. Paul, the Patron or title of the church etc.

COMMENDATION OF THE SOUL

370 A form of prayer for the dying contained in the Roman Ritual. The practice of bringing the priest to the bed of dying persons is coeval with the Church itself, and Amalarius tells us that several of the ancient Antiphonaries contained prayers for the dying. Parts at least of the present form are very ancient. The words "Subvenite," &c., "Come to his help, all ye saints of God; meet him, all ye angels of God," &c., occur in the Antiphonary of St. Gregory the Great; the beautiful address, "Go forth, 0 Christian soul," &e., is found in a letter of St. Peter Damian written to a friend of his who was near death.

COMMISSARY

373 An ecclesiastic who, by delegation from the bishop, exercises a portion of the episcopal jurisdiction in a particular part of the diocese, especially with reference to licenses, institutions and the examination of witnesses.

COMMUNION

376 That the body, soul and divinity of Christ are given in the Communion, and that Christ is received whole and entire under either kind - i.e., under the form of bread alone, or wine alone - is an article of the Catholic faith.

COMMUNION OF SAINTS

379 Communion of Saints is mentioned in the ninth article of the Apostles’ Creed, where it is added, according to the Roman Catechism, as an explanation of the foregoing words, "I believe in the holy Catholic Church." The communion of saints consists in the union which binds together the members of the Church on earth, and connects the Church on earth, with the Church suffering in Purgatory and triumphant in heaven.

CONCLAVE

382 A room that can be closed with a key. The term is applied both to the place where the Cardinals assemble for the election of a new Pope, and to the assembly itself.

CONCORDAT

385 A treaty between the Holy See and a secular State touching the conservation and promotion of the interests of religion in that State.

CONCURSUS

388 An examination into the qualifications of candidates for ecclesiastical benefices with cure of souls. The Council of Trent ordered that a board of six examiners should be appointed every year in the diocesan synod; and that when any parish became vacant, within ten days, or such period as the bishop might appoint, candidates having been duly invited to attend, an examination should be held by any three selected by the bishop from the board above mentioned. A list of those found qualified having then peen made by the examiners, it was competent for the person or persons to whom the patronage .appertained to select from among these the candidate of their choice, and present him to the bishop for institution.

CONFESSIONAL

391 The place set apart in the church where the priest hears confessions.

CONFESSION, SACRAMENTAL

394 This consists, in accusing ourselves of our sins to a priest who has received authority to give absolution. It is the pious custom of the faithful to accuse themselves of all sins committed after baptism, mortal or venial, so far as they can remember them, and the priest, if duly commissioned, has power to absolve from all. But there is an absolute obligation imposed, not only by the law of the Church, but also by divine institution, upon all Christians, to confess all mortal sins committed after baptism, so far as the penitent is able to recall them by diligent examination of his conscience.

395 It also must include the different kinds of mortal sin committed and the number of sins under each class, so far as it can be ascertained. One mortal sin willfully concealed vitiates the whole confession. If, however, mortal sins are omitted unintentionally and without fault, they are forgiven when absolution is pronounced; only, if they occur to the penitent's recollection afterwards, he must mention them in his next confession. Further, various causes may excuse from this completeness of enumeration. Thus in shipwreck, before a battle, when the penitent is unable to speak, or can only say very little from physical weakness, a very general confession of sin may be enough for absolution; but the confession must be completed afterwards, if the opportunity offers itself.

396 It must be vocal, though for a grave reason the penitent may make it by presenting a written paper, or by signs.

397 It must be accompanied by supernatural sorrow and form purpose of amendment. It should also be humble and sincere; as short as is consistent with integrity; in language which is plain and direct, but at the same time pure and modest.

398 The form of confession is as follows. The penitent, kneeling at the confessor's feet, says, "Pray, Father, bless me, for I have sinned." The priest gives the blessing prescribed in the Roman ritual, "The Lord be in thy heart and on thy lip, that thou mayest truly and humbly confess thy sins, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The penitent then recites the first part of the Confiteor, enumerates the sins of which he has been guilty since his last confession, and then adds, "For these and all my other sins which I cannot now remember I am heartily sorry; I purpose amendment for the future, and most humbly ask pardon of God and penance and absolution of you, my spiritual Father.

CONFESSOR

397 A name used from the earliest times for persons who confessed the Christian faith in times of persecution, thus exposing themselves to danger and suffering, but who did not undergo martyrdom.

CONFESSOR (in Sacrament of Penance)

400 The priest who hears confessions. He must have received faculties from the ordinary of the diocese. By the present law penitents may choose any approved priest for their confessor.

COMFIRMTION

403 A sacrament of the new law by which grace is conferred on baptised persons which strengthens them for the profession of the Christian faith. It is conferred by the bishop, who lays his hands on the recipients, making the sign of the cross with chrisms on their foreheads, while he pronounces the words "I sign thee with the sign of the cross and confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Besides conferring a special grace to profess the faith, it also sets a seal or character on the soul, so that this sacrament cannot be reiterated without sacrilege.

CONFITEOR

406 A form of prayer ("I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary ever Virgin," &c.) used in the sacrament of penance and on many other occasions, particularly by the priest at the beginning of Mass before he ascends the steps of the altar.

CONFRATERNITY

409 An association, generally of men or women, having some work of devotion, charity, or instruction for its object, undertaken for the glory of God.

CONGREGATIONS, RELIGIOUS

412 A congregation is a community or order bound together by a common rule, either without vows (as the Oratorians, the Oblates of St. Charles, &c.), or without solemn vows (as the Passionists, the Redemptorists, &c.).

CONSCIENCE

415 St. Thomas of Aquinas and other theologians define conscience as "the judgment or dictate of the practical intellect, which [arguing] from the general principles [of morals] pronounces that something in particular here and now is to be avoided, inasmuch as it is evil, or to, be done, inasmuch as it is good."

CONSECRATION

418 The form of words by which the bread and wine in the Mass are changed into Christ's body and blood.

CONSECRATION OF ALTARS

421 Altars and altar-stones are consecrated by the bishop with ceremonies prescribed in the Pontifical. The most essential part of the rite consists in the anointing with chrism, to indicate the richness of grace, and the placing of relics in the sepulchre or repository made in the altar-stone which is afterwards sealed up. The consecration endures till the altar-stone is broken or the seal of relics broken.

CONSECRATION OF CHALICE AND PATEN

424 Consecration of Chalice and Paten is made by the bishop with chrism, the prayers to be used being given in the Pontifical.

CONSISTORY

427 In the Church the term used with reference to the Papal consistory, the ecclesiastical senate in which the Pope, presiding over the whole body of Cardinals, deliberates upon grave ecclesiastical affairs, and communicates to his venerable brethren, and through them to Christendom, the solicitudes and intentions of the vicar of Christ as to the condition of some Christian nation, or the definition of some Catholic doctrine.

CONSUBSTANTIAL

430 The word used by the Fathers of Nicæa, to establish the true Godhead of the Son, inserted by them in their Creed, and ever since the watchword of those who have true faith in the divinity of Christ, A man may be said to be of one substance with another because he has the same specific nature; but the Son is consubstantial with the Father in another sense, for his nature is numerically one with that of the Father; else, there would be two Gods. Hence, when we say that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, we confess His perfect equality and co-eternity with the first Person of the Trinity and at the same time exclude all imperfection from His eternal generation. A human son receives an individual nature and is separate from his father; but God the Son is ever in the Father and the Father in Him.

CONTEMPLATION

433 A word used to describe the life of those (religious and others) who devote themselves to prayer and meditation, rather than to active works of charity. No doubt such a life, in order to be real, implies a vocation of no ordinary kind.

CONTRITION

436 Contrition in its widest sense, is defined by the Council of Trent as "grief of mind and detestation of sin committed, with a purpose of sinning no more."

CONVENT

439 The hermitages of the first ages gradually gave place to the cenobite mode of life in houses called convents; only in the orders of Chartreuse and Camaldoli has the solitary life been partially retained to this day.

COPE

442 (cappa pluviale) A wide vestment, of silk, &c., reaching nearly to the feet, open in front and fastened by a clasp, and with a cape at the back. It is used by the celebrant in processions, benedictions, &c., but never in the celebration of Mass, for the Church reserves the chasuble for the priest actually engaged in offering sacrifice, and thus carefully distinguishes between Mass and all other functions.

CORPORAL

445 The linen cloth on which the body of Christ is consecrated. It is used to cover the whole surface of the altar, as may be gathered an Ordo Romanus where the corporal is said to be spread on the altar by two deacons. The chalice also was covered by the corporal, a custom still maintained by the Carthusians. The corporal is and must be blessed by the bishop or by a priest with special faculties. It represents the winding-sheet in which Christ's body was wrapped by Joseph of Arimathea.

CORPUS OHRISTI

448 The feast of the Blessed Sacrament on the Thursday following the first Sunday after Pentecost throughout the Church.

COUNCIL

451 An assembly of the rulers of the Church legally convoked, for the discussion and decision of ecclesiastical affairs.

CREDENCE

454 A table on which the cruets with wine and water, the veil for the subdeacon, the burse, and the chalice, are placed, and from which they are taken when required for use.

CREED

457 A summary of the chief articles of faith.

CREMATION

460 On May 19, 1886, the following decree was issued at Rome: "Several bishops and prudent members of Christ's flock, knowing that certain men possessed doubtful faith, or belonging to the Masonic sect, strongly contend at the present day for the practice of the Pagan custom of cremation, founding special societies to spread this custom, fear lest the minds of the faithful may be worked upon by these wiles and sophistries so as to lose by degrees esteem and reverence towards the constant Christian usage of burying the bodies of the faithful - a usage hallowed by the solemn rites of the Church. In order, therefore, that some fixed rule may be laid down for the faithful, to preserve them from the insidious doctrines above mentioned, the Supreme Congregation of the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition is asked:

461 "1. Is it lawful to become a member of those societies whose object is to spread the practice of cremation?

462 "2. Is it lawful to leave orders for the burning of one's own body or that of another?

463 "Their Eminences the Cardinals General Inquisitors, after grave and mature consideration, answered:

464 "To the first question, No; and if it is a question of societies connected with the Masonic sect, the penalties pronounced against this sect would be incurred. To the second, No.

465 "When these decisions were referred to our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII., His Holiness approved and confirmed them, and directed them to be communicated to the bishops, in order that they might instruct the faithful upon the detestable abuse of burning the bodies of the dead and might do all in their power to keep the flock entrusted to their charge from such a practice."

466 We have given this decree in full, so that the exact position of the Church's teaching concerning cremation may be clearly seen. There is nothing intrinsically wrong in burning the bodies of the dead. The practice might become necessary at times of excessive mortality or of danger to the living, e. g., after a battle or during a plague. But in ordinary times cremation disturbs the pious sentiments of the faithful; it is not in keeping with the beautiful rites of Christian burial; and it has been introduced by enemies of the Church for the purpose of shutting her out from one of her most touching functions.

CROSIER

463 Or PASTORAL STAFF. The staff given to the bishop at his consecration as a symbol of the authority with which he rules his flock.

CRUCIFIX

466 The cross was used in Christian worship from the earliest times; the crucifix, or representation of Christ crucified, was probably introduced much later.

CULT

469 Veneration or worship. Theologians distinguish three kinds of Cult. Latria or supreme worship is due to God alone, and cannot be transferred to any creature without the horrible sin of idolatry. Dulia is that secondary veneration which Catholics give to saints and angels as the servants and special friends of God. Lastly, hyperdulia, which is only a subdivision of dulia, is that higher veneration which we give to the Blessed Virgin as the most exalted of mere creatures, though of course infinitely inferior to God and incomparably inferior to Christ in His human nature.

CURATE

472 One entrusted with the care of souls.

Section D: Dalmatic to Dominus Vobiscum

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DALMATIC

481 A vestment open on each side, with wide sleeves, and marked with two stripes. It is worn by deacons at High Mass as well as at processions and benedictions, and by bishops, under the chasuble, when they celebrate Mass pontifically.

DEACON

484 The word meme "minister" or servant.

DEDICATION OF CHURCHES

487 These words mean, properly speaking, the act by which a church is solemnly set apart for the worship of God; and afterwards this event is commemorated by THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION.

DESECRATION OF CHURCHES, ALTARS, CHALICES, ETC.

490 By consecration churches and altars are solemnly set apart to God's service; by desecration they lose this sacred character, become unfit for the sacred uses which they were meant to serve, and need to be consecrated anew.

DEVIL AND EVIL SPIRITS

493 Their personal existence is clearly taught both in the Old Testament and in the New. Satan slandered Job to God, incited David to number the people, and opposed Josue the high priest.

494 We gain fuller information from the New Testament. There we are told that the devil is a spirit (Ephes. ii. 2); that he is a prince with evil angels subject to him (Matt. xii. 24-26, xxv. 41); that the demons were not originally evil, but fell through sin (2 Pet. ii. 4, Jude 6); and it is at least a plausible inference from St. Paul's words, 1 Tim. iii. 6, "not a neophyte, lest, being puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil," that Satan fell by pride. All spiritual evil and error (2 Cor. xi. 14, 15), all which hinders the Gospel (1 These. ii. 18, Apoc. ii. 10), is traced ultimately to him. Moreover, although Christ's death was intended to destroy the works of the devil, and has in fact done so to a great extent, still Satan has a terrible power over the world and its votaries, so much so that he is called the ruler and even the "god" of this world (John xii. 31, 2 Cor. iv. 4); and hence St. Paul (1 Cor. v. 6) regards exclusion from the Church as tantamount to a deliverance of the excommunicated person into the power of Satan. At last this power will be destroyed. Satan and his angels will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where their torments will be everlasting.

DIOCESE

496 The name by which the tract of country with its population falling under the pastorate of a bishop is now universally designated.

DISCIPLINE

499 Discipline in its ecclesiastical sense signifies the laws which bind the subjects of the Church in their conduct, as distinct from dogmas or articles of faith, which affect their belief.

DISPENSATION

502 The relaxation of a law in a particular case.

DIVORCE

505 Divorce, in its widest sense, signifies a separation made between man and wife on sufficient grounds and by lawful authority. It may dissolve the marriage bond altogether, so that the man or woman is free to contract a fresh marriage; or it may simply relieve one of the parties from the obligation of living with the other. No human power can dissolve the bond of marriage when ratified and consummated between baptized persons. But

506 1. The marriage bond may be dissolved, even between baptized persons, by Papal authority, if the marriage has not been consummated.

507 2. It may be dissolved in similar circumstances by the solemn religious profession of either party.

508 3. If two unbaptized persons have contracted marriage, this marriage, even if consummated may be dissolved, supposing .one of the parties embraces the Christian religion and the other refuses to live peaceably and without insult to the Christian religion in the married state.

509 In all other cases the marriage bond is indissoluble, and, besides this, married persons are bound to live together, as man and wife. They may, however, separate by mutual consent, and, again if one party exposes the other to grave danger of body or soul, or commits adultery, the innocent partner may obtain a judicial separation, or even refuse to cohabit without waiting for the sentence of the judge, provided always that the offense is clearly proved.

DOGMATIC THEOLOGY

508 Dogmatic Theology is the science of Christian dogma.

DOGMA

511 Dogma, in its theological sense, is a truth contained in the Word of God, written or unwritten - i. e. in Scripture or tradition - and proposed by the Church for the belief of the faithful. Thus dogma is a revealed truth, since Scripture is inspired by the Holy Ghost, while tradition signifies the truths which the Apostles received from Christ and the Holy Spirit, and handed down to the Church.

DOLORS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

514 St. John mentions that the Blessed Virgin, with other holy women and with St. John, stood at the foot of the cross when the other Apostles had fled. At that time the prophecy of Simeon, "a sword will pierce thine own soul," was most perfectly fulfilled; and very naturally the sorrows of Mary have been a subject of contemplation to the Faithful.

DOMINE, NON SUM DIGNUS

517 "Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, but only speak with a word, and my soul will be healed." Words used by the priest before communicating, and again before giving communion to the people.

DOMINICANS

520 The founder of this celebrated order, St. Dominic, was born in 1170, at Calaruega, a small town in the diocese of Osma, in Old Castile. He was educated at the university of Palencia, which afterwards was removed to Salamanca. After leaving the university he preached with great power in many places. The Bishop of Osma at this time, whose name was Diego, was a prelate of great earnestness and piety; the laxity and tepidity which prevailed among a portion of the Spanish clergy were a serious grief to him, and he pondered how he might introduce the type and germ of a better state of things. He wished to introduce a regular and quasi-conventual life among the canons of his cathedral, and the young Dominic appeared a fit instrument for his purpose. Appointed a canon, and strenuously aiding in the introduction in the chapter of the rule of St. Austin, Dominic more than answered every expectation that had been formed of him, and obtained the entire confidence and affection of the bishop. The southern provinces of France were then teeming with the heresies of the numerous sects which pass under the general name of Albigenses, and the peril seemed imminent that large numbers of persons would before long, if no restraining influence appeared, throw off the bonds of religion, social order, and morality.

521 In 1215 Dominic had gathered round him sixteen men, of whom eight were Frenchmen, six Spaniards, one an Englishman, and one a Portuguese – all prepared to embrace any way of life that he might prescribe to them. Pope Innocent III., upon the understanding that the founder should choose for the new institute some rule already sanctioned by the Church, and that the statutes of the order should be submitted for his approval, consented to the desire of Dominic and his companions. Dominic selected the rule of St. Austin for the use of his order; many of the statutes were adapted from those of Prémontré.

522 When everything had been settled, and the first monastery was being built at Toulouse, Dominic went to Rome to obtain the final confirmation of the Holy See. Arriving in the autumn of 1216, he found Honorius III. occupying the Papal chair, and obtained from him in the following December a bull fully legalizing and confirming his institute, under the title of the "Preaching Brothers." 'He made his solemn profession before Honorius, as the first member of the order, and then returned to Toulouse.

523 Into the intellectual movement of the age, of which the foundation of many universities, and the rapid development of others were the chief outward signs, the Dominicans eagerly gave themselves.

524 Albertus Magnus, entering the order in the time of the second general, Jordanus Saxo, lectured in the university of Paris on the philosophy of Aristotle. His fame was eclipsed by that of the still larger and stronger mind of him who was his ardent disciple, and also a Dominican, St. Thomas of Aquinas. The "Summa Theologiæ," has been commended to the respect of all Christians and the careful study of the clergy, by the late Pope Leo XIII. The system of St. Thomas was so vast as to afford scope for the labor of many commentators, and a school hence arose, consisting chiefly of Dominicans, named Thomists.

DOMINUS VOBISCUM

523 ("The Lord be with you") is, with the "Pax vobis," the common salutation in the Mass and office.

Section E: Easter to Extreme Unction

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EASTER, FEAST OF

532 The feast of our Lord's resurrection.

ELEVATION

535 The Church has adored the Blessed Sacrament from the time of its institution. St. Ambrose says, "We adore in the mysteries the flesh of Christ, which the Apostles adored. "No one eats that flesh," says St. Augustine, "without first adoring it." But the outward signs by which the Church has expremed this adoration have not always been the same.

536 In the Greek liturgies the elevation of the Host takes place shortly before the communion. Ancient authors tell us how at the elevation the curtains which concealed the sanctuary during the rest of the canon were drawn aside and the sacred mysteries presented by the priest for the adoration of the faithful. Formerly in the Latin Mass the Blessed Sacrament was elevated only at the words "omnis honor et gloria" just before the "Pater Noster." This is now usually known as "the little elevation." The elevation of host and chalice immediately after consecration was introduced in detestation of the denial of transubstantiation.

EMBER DAYS

538 The Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday which follow December 13, the First Sunday in Lent, Pentecost, and September 14 (Exaltation of the Cross), are days of fasting, and are called in English Ember Days.

ENCYCLICAL

541 An encyclical is letter addressed by the Pope to all the bishops in communion with him, in which he condemns prevalent errors, or informs them of impediments which persecution, or perverse legislation or administration, opposes in particular countries to the fulfillment by the Church of her divine mission, or explains the line of conduct which Christians ought to take in reference to urgent practical questions, such as education, or the relations between Church and State, or the liberty of the Apostolic See.

EPIPHANY

544 A feast kept on January 6 to commemorate the manifestation of Christ's glory -

545 1. when the Magi adored Him;

546 2. in His baptism, when the voice from heaven proclaimed Him the Son of God;

547 3. in the miracle of changing water into wine, when Christ began His miracles.

EPISTLE

547 A portion of Scripture read after the collects and before the Gospel in the Mass.

ESPOUSAL

550 A deliberate promise to marry made by each party, expressed by outward signs, each being capable of entering upon such an engagement.

ESPOUSALS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

553 A feast kept on January 23. An office commemorating this event was written by the famous Gerson. In the sixteenth century Paul III. allowed the friars and nuns of the Franciscan Order to recite an office of the Espousals. The office was simply that of the Blessed Virgin's Nativity, except that a new Gospel was chosen and the word "nativitas" was changed into "desponsatio." However, a special office of the Espousals was written by the Dominican Peter Doré and approved by the same Pope, Paul III. An indult of Benedict XIII., in 1725, permitted its use throughout the States of the Church.

EUCHARIST

556 The Church regards the Eucharist as a sacrament and also as a sacrifice. Considered as a sacrament, the Eucharist is the true body and blood of Christ under the appearance of bread and wine.

557 A sacrifice is the oblation of a sensible thing made to God through a lawful minister by a real change in the thing offered, to testify God's absolute authority over us and our entire dependence on Him.

558 The above is included in the sacrifice of the Eucharist. There is the oblation of a sensible thing – viz. of the body and blood of Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. The oblation is made by a lawful minister – viz. by Christ Himself acting through lawful priests, who are His representatives. There is a mystical destruction of the victim, for Christ presents Himself on the altar "as in a state of death, because He is deprived of those functions of natural life which He exercised on earth, and because He is there with the signs of death through the mystical separation between body and blood" caused by the words of consecration. There is the protestation of God's supreme dominion, for the Mass is and can be offered to God alone. Moreover, it fulfills the form and ends of sacrifice. Like the holocausts, it offers homage to God; like the sin-offerings, it propitiates Him by the very fact that it is an oblation of Christ, the victim for our sins. Like the peace-offerings, it pleads for grace, for we offer here the victim of our peace. In this sacrifice of thanksgiving we offer God the most excellent gift He has bestowed on us - namely, the Son in whom he is well pleased. Then, the sacrifice of the altar is one with that of the cross. True, no blood is shed on the altar, nor does Christ die any more, so that it is by the sacrifice of the cross, not of the Mass, that we were redeemed from sin and its penalties. But on the cross and altar we have the same victim and the same priest, and therefore, in the words of the Council of Trent, the sacrifice of the Mass, though. a commemoration, is "not a mere commemoration of the sacrifice on the cross." It is truly "propitiatory" and may be offered for the living and dead, for sins and penalties, for satisfaction and other needs, spiritual and temporal. "Moved," says the see council, "by the oblation of thin sacrifice, the Lord, granting grace and the gift of repentance, forgives crime and sins, even if they be great," and in another place, that it is the most efficacious means of helping the souls in Purgatory. The Mass is offered for the salvation of the living and of the dead who still suffer in the state of purgation. It is necessary that the priest should communicate in every Mass which he celebrates, for consumption of the species forms an integral part of the sacrifice, but it is not necessary that anyone else should do so.

EVANGELISTS

559 The authors of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

562 It is necessary to ascertain the nature of the disease before remedies can be applied; and in the moral and spiritual life persons have to search their conscience in order to ascertain their past and present sins, that they may confess them to God, repent, and be forgiven, and take precautions against future falls. Spiritual writers recommend that this examination should be made at least every evening; in order to ascertain and to repent of the sins committed that day. Such examination is a matter of absolute necessity before approaching the sacrament of penance. The penitent must try, with such reasonable care as he would use in any other matter of grave importance, to ascertain at least all the mortal sins he has committed since his last confession; otherwise he is incapable of absolution.

EXCOMMUNICATION

565 An ecclesiastical censure by which a Christian is separated from the communion of the Church.

EXERCISES, SPIRITUAL

568 A name given by St. Ignatius of Loyola to a series of meditations on the truths of religion, accompanied by examination of conscience and considerations respecting present or future duty in the choice of a new state of life.

EXORCISM

571 The prayers used to drive out the devil from possessed persons.

EXPOSITION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

574 The Church has adored Christ in the Eucharist ever since that great sacrament was instituted, but it is only in times comparatively modern that the most Holy Sacrament has been publicly exposed for the veneration of the faithful.

575 The procession of the Blessed Sacrament on Corpus Christi was probably introduced some time after the institution of the feast, under Pope John XXII., who died in 1333. We cannot be sure that even then the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, for the earliest vessels in which it was carried seem to have hidden it completely from view. However, Thiers found in a vellum Missal dated 1373 a miniature portrait of a bishop carrying the Host in procession, the monstrance in which it is borne having sides partly of glass. We may thus reasonably conclude that in the fourteenth century the Host was exposed at least on Corpus Christi. In the sixteenth century it became common to expose the Host at other times--on occasions, e.g., of public distress - and generally the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for forty continuous hours. This devotion is still familiar to Catholics throughout the world as the usual form for the more solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The Host after High Mass (the Mass of Exposition) is placed on a throne above the altar in the monstrance. Persons are appointed to relieve each other night and day in watching and praying before it. On the second day a Mass "for peace" is sung, and on the third the Host is again placed in the tabernacle after a High Mass (that of Deposition).

EXTREME UNCTION

577 Extreme Unction may be defined as a sacrament in which the sick in danger of death are anointed by a priest for the health of soul and body, the anointing being accompanied by a set form of prayers.

Section F: Fabric to Frontal

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - F

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FABRIC

586 A church - that is a building set apart for the public divine worship of the faithful and can only be erected with the approval of the bishop of the diocese.

FAITH

589 An act of divine faith is the undoubting assent given to revealed truths, not because of the evidence which can be produced for them, but simply because they are revealed by God. Thus the truths which faith accepts are not evident in themselves, or if evident, as is the case with the truths of natural religion, are not accepted with divine faith, because so evident.

590 Divine faith excludes all doubt. So much is implied in the very word, for nobody would say that we put faith in a man's statement if we doubted its truth; and the faith required in the New Testament is clearly incompatible with doubt. "I know," St. Paul says, "in whom I have believed, and I am certain" (2 Timothy i 12).

FALDSTOOL

592 A seat which can easily be moved, and which is used by bishops and other prelates in the sanctuary when they do not occupy the throne.

FAST

595 Theologians distinguish the natural from the ecclesiastical fast. The former consists in total abstinence from food and drink, and is required of those who are about to communicate; the latter imposes limits both on the kind and quantity of our food.

FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

598 Fathers of the Church denote those writers whose orthodoxy was unimpeachable, whom works are of signal excellence or value, and whose sanctity was eminent and recognized by the Church.

FEAR OF GOD

601 Servile fear is such as a slave might hare for his master, and it looks to the punishments which God inflicts. Filial fear is the fear of the child; it consists in dread of offending God who is worthy of all love, and of being separated from Him by sin.

FEASTS OF THE CHURCH

604 Days on which the Church joyfully commemorates particular mysteries of the Christian religion or the glory of her saints.

FERIA

607 A name given the ecclesiastical calendar to all days of the week except Saturday and Sunday. The first Christians called Easter Monday, not the first day after Easter Sunday, but the second feria or feast-day; and as every Sunday is a lesser Easter, the practice prevailed of calling each Monday "feria secunda," each Tuesday, "feria tertia," and so on.

FLECTAMUS GENUA

610 ("Let us bend our knees") Words used by the deacon before the collects in the office of Good Friday and in certain Masses. The subdeacon immediately afterwards says "Levate" ("rise, " literally "raise them up,") and the ministers at the altar do so, having knelt on one knee for a second.

FORUM ECCLESIASTICUM

613 The tribunals of the Church are of two kinds, internal and external. The internal forum is the tribunal established in the sacrament of penance, where the coercive power is the Holy Ghost acting on the conscience, the penitent is his own accuser, and the confessor, guided by Moral Theology remits or retains sin, exacts satisfaction, and directs restitution, according to the circumstances of each case.

614 Under the name of external forum is included every exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction external to the tribunal of penance. The judicial office in the external forum belongs to bishops in their respective dioceses, metropolitans in the cases assigned to them by the canons, and supremely and universally to the Holy See.

FRANCISCANS

616 This order takes its name from its founder, St. Francis of Assisi, who died in 1226. The saint had entirely separated from the world in his twenty-fifth year and embraced a life of strict poverty. He lived for several years in a cottage near Assisi, in the practice of almost continual prayer accompanied by severe bodily discipline. After several disciples had joined him, the cottage at Assisi was found too small to hold them.

617 About this time the Benedictines of the neighboring monastery of Soubazo gave him a small plot of ground near Assisi called Portiuncula, on which stood an abandoned church dedicated in honor of Our Lady of the Angels. Francis would not accept the land as an absolute gift, but by the tenure of rendering yearly to the Benedictines a basket of little fish, called lasche, caught in the stream that flowed hard by. From this humble site, which thus became the cradle of the order, thousands of monasteries were to be planted, missioners were to go forth to all parts of the world to preach, toil, and in many cases suffer martyrdom for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a vast multitude of doctors and holy prelates were to issue, by whom the purity of the faith should be sustained, and its principles applied. The Sovereign Pontiff at that time was Innocent III. At the first interview he rejected the saint's petition. Francis humbly withdrew; but the same night the Pope dreamt that he saw a palm spring up from the ground between his feet and gradually grow till it became a great tree; at the same time an impression was borne in upon his mind that by this palm tree was designated the poor petitioner whom he had repelled the day before. The Pope ordered that search should be made for him; Francis was found, and, being brought before the Pope and the Cardinals, expounded in simple but glowing language the plan and aims of his institute. The Pope was much moved, but some of the Cardinals thought that the poverty required surpassed the strength of man. Francis betook himself to prayer, and at the next interview Innocent granted him a verbal approbation of his rule. The Pope declared that he had seen in a dream the Lateran basilica tottering to its fall, but saved by a poor despised man, who set his back against the wall and propped it up. "Truly," said he, "here is that man who, by his work and teaching will sustain the Church of Christ." The above particulars are taken from the Life of the saint by St. Bonaventure. St. Francis drew up a code of rules which were solemnly ratified by Honorius III. in 1223.

618 It is difficult to realize in this twentieth century the extraordinary attraction which the example and .preaching of St. Francis exercised on his contemporaries. Long before the confirmation by Honorius III., the Friars Minor (such was the name which the founder in his humility chose for them) had made their way into the principal countries of Europe, preaching penance and founding convents.

619 Francis said to his followers: "Let your behavior in the world be such that everyone who sees or hears you may praise the Heavenly Father. Preach peace to all; but have it in your hearts still more than on your lips. Give no occasion of anger or scandal to any, but by your gentleness lead all men to goodness, peace, and union. We are called to heal the wounded, and recall the erring."

620 So rapidly did the order increase that at the first general chapter, that called of Mats, held at the Portiuncula in 1219, upwards of five thousand friars were present.

621 In 1830 the number of Franciscan monasteries was estimated at fifteen hundred, containing ninety thousand friars. Hélyot states that in his time - that is, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, long after the destruction of the houses of the order in England and other northern countries, where they were once numerous--there were, of the first and third orders, seven thousand convents, with 120,000 friars; and of the second order above nine hundred convents, with 28,000 nuns.

622 The order of St. Francis has given five Popes, more than fifty cardinals, and an immense number of patriarchs and bishops to the Church. The great statesman Cardinal Ximenes was a Franciscan. Among the schoolmen, St. Bonaventure the Seraphic Doctor; Duns Scotus the Subtle Doctor; Alexander of Hales the Irrefragable Doctor; and William of Ockham, were members of this order.

FRATERNAL CORRECTION

619 An admonition which in certain circumstances we are bound to give our neighbor in order to withdraw him from sin. The duty of so admonishing is founded on the natural law of love, which obliges us to help our neighbor in the necessities of his soul, and also on the command of Christ (Matt. xviii. 15), "If thy brother shall offend thee, go and reprove him between thee and him alone.

620 In order to be under, such an obligation, we must be certain that the sin has been committed; we must have reason to think that it has not been repented of, and some reasonable hope that the correction will do good. We must also have grounds for supposing that no one else who is equally fit with ourselves to give these corrections is likely to do so. The admonition must of course be given with great prudence and charity. Bishops, parish-priests, parents and superiors are more strictly bound than others to the duty of making corrections. Many causes, such as inconvenience and loss, or even bashfulness, may often excuse private persons from administering it.

FREEDOM OF WILL

622 Freedom of Will says St. Thomas, consists essentially in the power of choice. We are said to be endowed with free will because we are able to accept one object, rejecting another; which acceptance we call "choice."

FRIAR

625 The word is a corruption of the French frère, the distinguishing title of the members of the mendicant orders.

FRONTAL

628 An embroidered cloth which often covers the front side of the altar. The color should vary with the feast or season, and even now Gavanti says it may be dispensed with if the altar is of costly material or fine workmanship.

Section G: Gallicanism to Guardian

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - G

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GALLICANISM

637 Is a tendency to enlarge the prerogatives of a national church - in the particular case, of the church of France - and to restrict proportionately the authority of the Holy See.

GAUDETE SUNDAY

640 The third Sunday of Advent, so called from the first word of the Introit, Gaudete, "rejoice."

GENERAL CONFESSION

643 A confession of sins committed by the penitent since baptism, so far as they can be remembered. Such a confession is of course necessary in the case of those who have made no previous confession, or whose previous confessions have been invalid. A person may reasonably desire to make such a confession in order to obtain direction when he proposes to enter on a new state of life; or, again, to acquire deeper humility and a better knowledge of himself. Hence it is common to make a general confession before first communion, ordination, or religious profession.

GENUFLECTION

646 Genuflection (the bending of the knee) is a natural sign of adoration or reverence. It is frequently used in the Ritual of the Church. Thus the faithful genuflect in passing before the tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved; the priest repeatedly genuflects at Mass in adoration of the Blessed Eucharist, at the mention of the Incarnation in the Creed. Genuflection is also made as a sign of profound respect before a bishop on certain occasions. A double genuflection - i.e. one on both knees - is made on entering or leaving a church where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed.

GHOST

649 In the Old Testament there are many allusions to necromancers, who professed to summon up the spirits of the dead; and possibly in 1 Kings xxviii. 7 we have the account of a real apparition. Many apparitions of saints after death are recorded in the history of the Church. The theological principles on the matter are stated by St. Thomas. According to the natural course of things, no soul can leave heaven or hell, even for a time, or quit purgatory till its purification is completed. But God may permit departed souls to appear on earth for many wise reasons, that is, that the saints may help men; that the sight of lost souls may warn them; that the spirits in purgatory may obtain prayers. St. Thomas even thinks that God has communicated to the saints a permanent power of appearing on earth when they please.

GIRDLE

652 A cord with which the priest or other cleric binds his alb. It is the symbol of continence and self-restraint, as is said by Innocent III., and implied in the prayer which the priest about to celebrate Mass is directed to use while he ties the girdle round his waist.

GLOVES

655 A bishop's gloves are blessed and put on his hands at his consecration by the consecrator.

GNOSTICISM

658 It is a false knowledge which throws off the trammels of faith and ecclesiastical authority. It subjects everything to the caprice of an individual, and makes any fixed rule of faith impossible. It abandons the faith which the Church proclaims, and cavils at the simplicity of the holy teachings. It destroys the efficacy of baptism - that is, it sets at naught faith, the gift conferred in that sacrament. The Gnostic professes to impart a knowledge "greater and deeper" than the ordinary doctrine of Christians, a knowledge which forgets the limits of reason and scorns to believe what it can not understand. This knowledge, to those who were capable of it, is the means of redemption; indeed, in most of the Gnostic systems it is the one and sufficient passport to perfect bliss. It is, however, important to observe that Gnosticism is not a philosophy. True, it is as unfettered and unstable as any philosophy can be, and it addresses itself to the same kind of questions. But it keeps the semblance of Christianity, for in nearly all the Gnostic systems Christ occupies a central place, and, as a rule, Gnosticism answers the speculative questions which it raises, not in the abstract language of metaphysics, but by the invention of an elaborate mythology. Without its Christian elements, it could not have entered into such close conflict with the Church; without its mythological garb, it would have missed the popularity which made it and makes it still dangerous.

659 It was in the East that Gnosticism began, and in its rudimentary form it appears very early in the history of the Church.

GOD

661 In the Apostles and in the Nicene Creed we begin by professing our belief in one God, creator of heaven and earth, and the Fourth Lateran Council explains more fully what we know by reason and revelation of His nature and attributes. The Vatican Council, although to a great extent it merely reiterates the Lateran definition, adds at least two important truths concerning God's relation to us and ours to Him. For, after stating that there is one true and living God, creator and Lord of heaven and earth, almighty, eternal, immense, incomprehensible, infinite in intellect and will and in every concerning whom, seeing that He is one, singular, altogether simple and unchangeable spiritual substance, we must assert that He is in reality and essence distinct from the world, most blessed in Himself and from Himself, and infinitely exalted above all that is or can be thought of besides Himself, the council adds that God "by His most free counsel," constrained by no necessity of any kind, created the world, and then, in the next chapter, that we can, by the natural light of reason, and from the consideration of created things, attain a "sure" knowledge of God, who is the beginning and end of all.

GOLDEN ROSE

664 An ornament blessed by the Pope every year on Lætare Sunday (fourth Sunday in Lent), and sent occasionally to Catholic sovereigns, to churches and sanctuaries, to distinguished persons and to Catholic cities. Originally, it was a single flower of wrought gold, colored red; afterwards the golden petals were decked with rubies and other gems; finally, the form adopted was that of a thorny branch, with several flowers and leaves, and one principal flower at the top, all of pure gold.

GOSPEL (LITURGICAL USE OF)

667 The practice of reading the gospels in the Mass is mentioned in all the liturgies. The Gospel was read after the Epistle and before the offertory, in order that the catechumens might listen to the words of Christ and hear them explained.

GRACE

670 Definition and Divisions of Grace.- All that we receive from God - our existence, our natural powers, the good things, of this life - are God's free gift and may therefore be rightly called graces or favors received from Him. Man has been created that he may see God face to face in His glory, and God, who calls him to eternal life, also furnishes the means by which it may be secured. The theologians of the Church distinguish grace from nature. Grace in its strict sense may be defined as a supernatural gift freely bestowed by God on rational creatures in order that they may attain eternal life. It is called a supernatural gift in order to distinguish it from gifts which come to us in the natural order. All grace since the Fall has been given to man on account of Christ's merits.

671 Grace is divided into external and internal grace. The former term includes such external gifts as the preaching of the Gospel, the examples of Christ and the Saints, occasions of good actions, the removal of exterior temptations - in a word, all the effects of supernatural providence by which the cause of our salvation is promoted. Internal grace directly affects the understanding and the will, either inhering in the soul as a permanent quality, or merely moving and aiding the soul at the time to acts of supernatural virtue.

GRACE AT MEALS

673 "Whether you eat or drink," says St. Paul (1Cor. x. 31), "or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God." St. Basil says, "Let prayers be said before taking food, in meet acknowledgment of the gifts of God, both of those which He is now giving and of those which He has put in store for the future. Let prayers be said after food, containing a return of thanks for the things given, and request for those promised. "

GRADUAL

676 An antiphon sung after the Epistle, and so called either because it used to be sung on the altar steps, or because it was sung while the deacon ascended the steps of the ambo to sing the Gospel. It is also called "responsory," because it answers to the Epistle, or because sung antiphonally.

GREEK CHURCH

679 Under this title are included all those Christians who, being separated from the communion of the Pope, acknowledge the primacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople. At one time, as everybody knows, the Greek Churches were in full communion with the Holy See.

GUARDIAN

682 A person responsible in the eye of the law for the proper bringing up of children whose father is dead or incapable. Under the ancient discipline, a cleric could not act as guardian, lest he should be too much entangled in worldly business.

Section H: Heart of Jesus to Hymn

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - H

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HEART OF JESUS (SACRED HEART)

691 The faithful worship with supreme adoration the physical Heart of Christ, considered "not as mere flesh, but as united to the Divinity." They adore it as "the Heart of the Person of the Word to which it is inseparably united." This truth is as old as the belief in the hypostatic union, and it was solemnly defined in 431 at the Council of Ephesus. All the members of Christ united to the rest of His sacred humanity and to the Eternal Word are the object of divine worship. If it be asked further why the heart is selected as the object of special adoration, the answer is, that the real and physical heart is a natural symbol of Christ's exceeding charity, and of His interior life. Just as the Church in the middle ages turned with singular devotion to the Five Wounds as the symbol of Christ's Passion, so in these later days she bids us have recourse to His Sacred Heart, mindful of the love wherewith He loved us "even to the end."

692 The special and formal devotion to the Heart of Jesus owes its origin to the Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque, who lived in the latter part of the seventeenth century.

HEART OF MARY IMMACULATE

694 The principles on which the devotion rests are the same as those which are the foundation of the Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart. Just as Catholics worship the Sacred Heart because it is united to the Person of the Word, so they venerate the heart of Mary because united to the person of the Blessed Virgin. In each case the physical heart is taken as a natural symbol of charity and of the inner life, though of course the charity and virtues of Mary are infinitely inferior to those of her Divine Son.

HEAVEN

697 It is the place where God manifests His glory to the blessed, and clearly shows Himself to them. This appears from the fact that Christ has ascended to heaven in that body which He took from Mary, and that the body of Mary herself is, according to the belief of the Church, already reunited to her soul, so that she is, body and soul, with her Divine Son. Since then, the sacred humanity is not omnipresent, heaven is a definite place in which Christ and the Blessed Virgin exist, and in which the angels and blessed souls are gathered together. After the general resurrection heaven will also be the home in which the bodies of the just will live for ever.

HELL

700 Hell may be defined as the place and state in which the devils and such human beings as die in enmity with God suffer eternal torment.

HERESY

703 The word is used to denote a philosophical sect or party, or the belief of those who of their own will choose false doctrine, either instituting sects themselves or receiving the false doctrine of sects already founded.

HIERARCHY

706 The word first occurs in the work of a Greek writer of the fifth century who referred to it as "administration of sacred things." A hierarchy now signifies a body of officials disposed organically in ranks and orders, each subordinate to the one above it. However, when the hierarchy is generally spoken of, what is meant is the organization of ranks and orders in the Catholic Church.

HOLY FAMILY

709 Our Lord, His Mother, and His foster-father, St. Joseph, together formed one family which should be the model and veneration of all Christian households.

HOLY GHOST, CONGREGATION OF THE, AND OF THE I. H. OF MARY

712 This congregation, as its’ name might suggest, arose out of the fusion into one, in 1848, of two pre-existing institutes - the Congregation of the Holy Ghost, and the Missioners of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The rule of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost, which had been approved by the Sovereign Pontiff, was to be retained, and the constitutions of the missionaries were for the most part incorporated in it.

713 The society is governed by a superior-general elected for life. Its missions are directed by bishops or vicars-apostolic chosen from its own body. All the members - fathers and brothers- consecrate themselves to God by the three simple vows of religion, at first temporary, afterwards perpetual; and they bind themselves to the congregation by their act of profession, which contains an engagement of perseverance.

HOLY PLACES

715 The spots rendered sacred to Christians by the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Savior, as well as by events in the life of the Blessed Virgin, have been visited by pilgrims and travellers at least since the third century.

HOLY WATER

718 Washing with water is a natural symbol of spiritual purification. "I will pour out upon you," says fled by the prophet Ezechiel, xxxvi. 25, "clean water, and you shall be clean."

719 Holy water is placed at the door of the church in order that the faithful may sprinkle themselves with it as they enter accompanying the outward rite with internal acts of sorrow and love.

HOLY WEEK

721 The week in which the Church commemorates Christ's death and burial, and which is spoken of by ancient writers as the Great, the Holy Week, the Week of the Holy Passion. The custom of keeping Holy Week dated from Apostolic times. In the East, Holy Week was distinguished from the rest of Lent by the extreme strictness of the fast.

HOMILY

724 Homily is used by ecclesiastical writers to signify a familiar discourse on Holy Scripture.

HOPE

727 One of the theological virtues. It may be defined as a supernatural gift of God whereby we trust that God will give us eternal life and all the means necessary thereto if we do our part.

HOST

730 The form and material of altar bread. Christ, the victim of expiation for our sins, is called the Host. Sacred Hosts are reserved in the tabernacle for the sick.

HUMERAL VEIL

733 An oblong scarf of the same material as the vestments, worn by the subdeacon at High Mass, when he holds the paten, between the Offertory and Pater Noster; by the priest when he raises the monstrance to give benediction with the Blessed Sacrament; and by priests and deacons when they remove the Blessed Sacrament from one place to another, or carry it in procession. It is worn round the shoulders, and the paten, pyx, or monstrance is wrapped in it.

HYMN

736 In the wider and ancient sense, including Psalms and Canticles, meant originally a song of praise in honor of gods or heroes, and it had a religious character

Section I: Iconoclasts to Irregularity

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - I

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ICONOCLASTS

745 ("Breakers of images") A name given to the powerful party which set itself against the religions use of images, and disturbed the peace of the Church during the eighth and the former half of the ninth century.

IGNORANCE

748 St. Thomas distinguishes ignorance from mere nescience. The latter he explains to mean the simple absence of knowledge; the former implies absence of knowledge in one who is capable of acquiring it. He proceeds to show that ignorance may easily involve sin, since a person is bound to use all reasonable means in order that he may have the knowledge necessary for the performance of his duties. Thus all men are bound to learn, so far as they can, the general principles of religion and morals; and a man sins grievously who remains from his own negligence in the belief that a false religion is true, or that an unlawful come of action which he is pursing is really lawful.

IMAGES

751 The Council of Trent states that in images there is no divinity or "virtue, on account of which they are to be worshipped."

752 The true use of images, now the danger of idolatry has passed away from Christian nations, admits of historical representations in art. Images, according to the Tridentine definition, are to be retained and honored, but abuses by the ignorant are to 'be removed. The object of images is to set Christ, His Blessed Mother, the saints and angels before our eyes, while the council adds that "the honor which is given to them is referred to the objects which they represent, so that through the images which we kiss, and before which we uncover our heads and kneel, we adore Christ and venerate the saints, whose likenesses they are."

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

754 The Meaning of the doctrine.-Benedict XIV. ("De Fest." clxxxvii. seq.), quoting Frassen a Scotist theologian, distinguishes between active and passive conception. The former consists in the act of the parents which causes the body of the child to be formed and organized, and so prepared for the reception of the rational soul which is infused by God. The latter takes place at the moment when the rational soul is actually infused into the body by God. It is the passive, not the active, conception which Catholics have in view when they speak of the Immaculate Conception. For there was nothing miraculous in Mary's generation. She was begotten like other children. The body, while still inanimate, could not be sanctified or preserved from original sin, for it is the soul, not the body, which is capable of receiving either the gifts of grace or the stain of sin. Moreover, from the fact that Mary sprang in the common way from Adam, our first father, it follows that she was the daughter of a fallen race and incurred the "debt" or liability to contract original sin. Adam was the representative of the human race: he was put on his trial, and when he fell all his descendants fell with him, and must, unless some special mercy of God interposes, receive souls destitute of that grace in which Adam himself was created. In Mary's case, however, God's mercy did interpose. For the sake of Him who was to be born.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, DOGMA OF

757 It was defined and promulgated by Pius. IX., as a dogma if the Church on Dec. 8, 1854.

IMMUNITY

760 Ecclesiastical immunity is defined to be the right by which churches and other sacred places, as well as ecclesiastical persons and their property, are free and discharged from secular functions and burdens, and from acts repugnant to the sanctity and reverence which are due to them.

IMPEDIMENT OF MARRIAGE

763 The contract of marriage between certain persons and in certain cases is null and void by the law of God, natural and revealed. The Church maintains that she may institute impediments which nullify the contract of marriage. The principle on which this tenet rests is a very simple one. Marriage between baptized persons, according to the Catholic doctrine, is a sacrament, and therefore this contract falls under ecclesiastical authority. Just as the State may pronounce certain moral contracts which are lawful in themselves null and void, for example, it may for the general good nullify certain engagements made by minors, so the Church may interfere as to the validity of the marriage contract. The State, on the contrary, has no power to nullify the sacrament of marriage, because it does not fall under civil jurisdiction. But where the formalities of marriage affect the public order, and the welfare of the married parties is concerned, the State may interpose.

764 Impediments are of two kinds. They may render marriage merely unlawful, in which we they are called "impedient"; or they may nullify it, in which ease they are known as "diriment."

IMPOSITION OF HAND

766 Imposition of Hand in the old dispensation (Gen. xlviii 14, Deut. xxxiv. 9) symbolized the conveyance of grace and power. The rite has been retained under the new law, and in two instances (the imposition of hands in ordination and confirmation) it has received a sacramental efficacy.

INCARNATION

769 Is the Catholic doctrine which gives expression to the truth that the Word took perfect human nature; that He had, a human intelligence as well as a body and soul. Fathers of the Church most commonly called the Incarnation the "economy," meaning 'that Christ took flesh in order to provide for our salvation.

INCENSE

772 The mystical significations of incense are obvious. It symbolizes the zeal with which the faithful should be consumed; the odor of Christian virtue; the ascent of prayer to God (Ps. cxl.2; Apoc. viii. 3, 4). It is used before the introit, at the gospel, offertory and elevation in High Mass; at the Magnificat in vespers; at funerals, &c.

INDULGENCE

775 An indulgence in the theological sense of the word is defined as a remission of the punishment which is still due to sin after sacramental absolution, this remission being valid in the court of conscience and before God, and being made by an application of the treasure of the Church on the part of a lawful superior.

INDULT

778 (something granted by favor) A license or permission granted by the Pope, whether to a society or to an individual, authorizing something to be done which the common law of the Church does not sanction. A familiar instance is that of the Lenten indults, by which the Pope authorizes the bishops, according to the circumstances of different countries, to dispense more or less with the rigor of the canons as to the quadragesimal fast.

INFIDEL

781 One who is not among the faithful of Christ. Popularly, the term is applied to all who reject Christianity as a divine revelation. In order to reject it, they must have heard of it; those, therefore, who have never heard of Christianity are not called infidels, but heathens. Heretics should not be called infidels, for they do accept the religion of Christ as divinely revealed, however erroneous or fantastic their notions as to the nature of the revelation may be.

INNOCENTS, HOLY FEAST OF

784 From the earliest times the Church has regarded the children whom Herod slew in his desire to make sure of killing Christ, as Martyrs. In the middle ages it was usual for children to keep a time of festivity in honor of the Holy Innocents, which lasted from St. Stephen's Day to the Octave of the Epiphany. The feast of children is observed in Catholic countries as "Children's Day."

INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE

787 The word "inspiration," like many other theological terms, comes to us from the Latin version of the Bible. Thus St. Paul's words, 2 Tim. iii. 16, "Every Scripture breathed by God," is rendered "omnia Scriptura divinitus inspirata," and again when St. Peter speaks of the prophets as "moved by the Holy Ghost,"' the Latin has "spiritu sancto inspirati." Just as God is said in Genesis ii. 7, Wisdom xv.ll, to have breathed man's soul into his body; just as in Job xxxii. 8, the "inspiration of the Almighty" is said 'to "give understanding," so the sacred writers are described as inspired because God breathed into them or, to drop the metaphor, suggested the thoughts which they wrote down. Inspiration, therefore, may be defined as a supernatural impulse by which God directed the authors of the canonical books to write down certain matter predetermined by Him. Inspiration was bestowed upon the writers for the edification of others, and like all graces it is especially attributed to God the Holy Ghost.

INSTALLATION

790 The actual visible establishment in the possession of an ecclesiastical dignity or benefice.

791 Installation, in the case of a bishop, is called enthronization; it is the solemn entry into possession of his cathedral and episcopal residence on the part of the newly consecrated bishop, who wears all his pontifical insignia on the occasion. When the bishop is consecrated in his own church, the enthronization becomes identified with the consecration; but when the latter rite has been performed in another diocese, then, "according to .the ancient tradition, the bishop, dressed in the garb of a pilgrim, with his crozier in his hand, and the pastoral hat on his head, is received on arriving at the boundary of his diocese by the chapter and clergy of the cathedral city and district; by them he is escorted to some neighboring church, where, after a short prayer, he is presented with the episcopal ornaments and insignia, and then conducted in solemn procession to the sound of bells into his cathedral, where he is welcomed with the anthem Ecce Sacerdos Magnus and the Te Deum, while he takes his seat on his throne, from the raised dais of which he imparts to the assembled throng his episcopal benediction. After this he is escorted to his palace, the cross being borne before him."

INTERDICT

793 It is an ecclesiastical censure, by which persons are debarred from the use of certain sacraments, from all the divine offices, and from Christian burial.

794 Interdicts are divided into local, personal, and mixed. In the first kind a place is interdicted, so that no divine office may be celebrated or heard in it, either by the inhabitants or by strangers. By the second kind persons are interdicted, so as to be debarred from using the sacraments or exercising the functions prohibited in whatever place they may be. By the mixed kind both place and persons are directly interdicted that is a city and its inhabitants. Again, each of the first two kinds may be either general or particular. A particular local interdict strikes a single locality that is a church; a general one comprehends many localities, being pronounced against a nation, a state, or a city. A particular personal interdict strikes a single person; a general one of the same class is extended to a number of persons that is to all the people in a state, or all the members of a university.

INVITATORIUM

796 (Invitatory Psalm.) The invitatory psalm, or the Ps. 94, "Come let us rejoice before the Lord," is said at the beginning of Matins on all days except the Epiphany and the last three days of Holy Week. The invitatorium has an antiphon, the whole of which is repeated six times, and the half three times, in the recitation of the psalm.

IRREGULARITY

799 Irregularity is defined as a "canonical impediment, which prevents a person from entering the ranks of the clergy, from rising to a higher order, or from exercising the order which he has received."

Section J: Jesuits to Justification

802 (Texto do capítulo)

Catholic Pocket Dictionary - J

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JESUITS

808 St. Ignatius Loyola, born in1491, of a noble family in Biscay, and trained to the military profession, received a severe wound in the leg while defending Pampeluna against the French in 1521. When he had sufficiently recovered, he broke with his former life, embraced poverty, and retirement. The thought came frequently to his mind of founding an order, which should support, by example, preaching, and education, the cause of the Gospel and Catholic truth, and carry the light of Christ to the heathen. But to carry out all this, he must become a priest. While a student in the University of Paris he made the acquaintance of a number of remarkable men, chiefly Spaniards, with whom being made one in heart and spirit, he understood that it was now possible to carry out the project which he had long cherished. He conducted them first through the "Spiritual Exercises," which he had composed at Manresa. On the feast of the Assumption, in 1534, in the church of Montmartre at Paris, Ignatius and his companions, Francis Xavier, James Laynez, Alphonsus Salmeron, Nicholas Bobadilla – Spaniards; Simon Rodriguez, a Portuguese; and Peter Fabor, a Savoyard, after they had all received communion from Father Peter Faber, who was then the only priest among them, pronounced the vow which constituted the order. It was, to renounce the world, to go to preach the gospel in Palestine, or, if they could not go thither within a year after they had finished their studies, to offer themselves to the Holy Father to be employed in the service of God in what manner he should judge best.

809 Preaching, spiritual exercises, works of charity, teaching the catechism, and hearing confessions, were to be their employments.

810 The Society was confirmed by Pope Paul III in a bull dated Sept. 27, 1540, and at the election of a general, Ignatius was unanimously nominated and elected.

811 A complete abandonment to the will of the Superior was to be the great feature of the order. The "Company of Jesus" has prospered since its foundation. It consists of six grades; novices, scholastics, temporal coadjutors, spiritual coadjutors, the professed of three vows and the professed of four vows. The members are distributed into novitiates, colleges, professed houses and missions.

812 The head of the society, known as the general, is elected for life. The society is divided in provinces, the superior of each province is the provincial. The motto A. M. D. G., are the initial letters of the latin words Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. Many saints of the church, confessors, and martyrs, were members of the society of Jesus. The number of members of this great order is rated at 12,000.

JESUS

811 The name means not, as is often said, "Savior" or "God the Savior," but "the Lord [that is Jehova] is help or salvation."

JOSEPH, ST.

814 St. Joseph was the true husband of Mary, and as such her head. St. .Joseph occupies a place of his own in the devotion of modern Catholics such as is given to no other saint. The devotion to St. Joseph is a striking instance of Catholic usage, modern in itself and yet based on most ancient and Scriptural principles.

815 In consequence of his authority and his provident care, he is honored with the title of the "Father" of Christ (Luke ii. 48), although of course Christ had no man for His father in the proper sense of the word. To have been chosen by God Himself as the husband of the Virgin Mother and the foster-father of our Lord – these surely are solid grounds for a singular devotion to St. Joseph.

JUBILEE

817 The year of jubilee was an institution of the Levitical Law.

818 The Church of Christ has adopted the term "jubilee" from the Jewish Church, and proclaims from time to time a "year of remission" – from the penal consequences of sin: she offers to her children, if they repent and make their peace with God and perform certain pious works, a plenary indulgence, and during this year she empowers even ordinary confessors to absolve from many reserved cases and censures, from vows, &c., &c. An ordinary jubilee occurs at Rome every twenty-fifth year, lasts from Christmas to Christmas, and is extended in the following year to the rest of the Church. An extraordinary jubilee is granted at any time, either to the whole Church or to particular countries or cities, and not necessarily, or even usually, for a whole year. If the jubilee, whether ordinary or extraordinary, be granted to the faithful generally, the conditions for gaining it usually are to fast for three days – viz. on a Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday; to visit certain churches, and pray according to the intention of the Pope, to give alms, to confess and communicate.

JUDGMENT, GENERAL

820 Christ will judge all men and angels together at the last day as taught with such clearness and iteration in the New Testament and in all the Creeds. General judgment is intended to manifest before all intelligent creatures the justice of God, to exhibit Christ in his majesty before their eyes, to glorify the just, and to put the wicked to open shame.

JUDGMENT, PARTICULAR

823 Particular Judgment happens when the soul departs this life and goes before the judgment-seat of God, where a most just inquiry is made into all that he has ever done, said, or thought. This is called judgment.

JURISDICTION IN THE CHURCH

826 Jurisdiction is the power of those who have public authority over others for their rule and government.

JUSTICE

829 Justice implies a certain rectitude of order, even in the interior disposition of a man, inasmuch, namely, as the highest part of man is subjected to God and the inferior powers of the soul are subjected to that which is supreme, viz. to reason.

JUSTIFICIATION

832 It begins, with the grace of God which touches a sinner's heart and calls him to repentance. This grace cannot be merited; it proceeds solely from the love and mercy of God. It is, however, in man's power to reject or to receive the inspiration from above; it is in his power to turn to God and to virtue or to persevere in sin. And grace does not constrain but assists the freewill of the creature. So assisted, the sinner is disposed or prepared and adapted for justification; he believes in the revelation and promises of God, especially in the truth "that a sinner is justified by God's grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus"; he fears the justice, hopes in the mercy, of God, trusts that God will be merciful to him for Christ's sake, begins "to love God as the fountain of all justice, hater; and detests his sins." "This disposition or preparation is followed by, justification itself,which justification consists, not in the mere remission of sins, but in the sanctification and renewal of the inner man by the voluntary reception of [God's] grace and gifts, whence a man becomes just instead of unjust, a friend instead of a foe, and so an heir according to hope of eternal life." . . . "By the merit of the most holy Passion through the Holy Spirit the charity of God is shed abroad in the hearts of those who are justified."

Section K: Kiss to Kyrie Eleison

835 (Texto do capítulo)

Catholic Pocket Dictionary - K

838 (Texto do capítulo)

KISS

841 Kiss of Peace.-Among Jews (Gen. xxxii. 4, 2 Kings xiv. 33, Job xxxi. 27) and heathen the kiss was used much more frequently than among ourselves as a mere sign of good will and charity. The kiss of peace was given at Mass from the earliest times. To kiss the altar is a mark of reverence the place on which the Blessed Eucharist is offered. The priest does so repeatedly in the Mass. So the celebrant at Mass signifies his love for the teaching of Christ by kissing the Gospel.

Section L: Labarum to Lunette

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - L

847 (Texto do capítulo)

LABARUM

850 The banner of the cross, used by Constantine in his campaigns.

LADY-DAY

853 The feast of the Annunciation, March 25th.

LAETARE SUNDAY

856 The fourth Sunday in Lent, so called from the first word in the antiphon of the introit, "Rejoice, 0 Jerusalem, and gather together, all ye who love her," &c. This day is also known as Mid-Lent or Refreshment Sunday. On that one Sunday in Lent the altar is decked with flowers, the organ is played, and at the principal Mass rose-colored vestments are worn instead of violet ones.

LAMPS

859 Lamps have been from very early times used in Christian churches, and have had a sacred character attributed to them. Thus the fourth Apostolic Canon forbids anything to be offered at the altar except "oil for the lamp, and incense at the time of the holy oblation."

LANGUAGE OF THE CHURCH

862 This title is used for want of a better to denote the Church's practice of celebrating Mass, administering the sacraments, and generally of performing her more solemn services in dead languages. For the Church cannot be said to use, or even to prefer, any one language. She requires some of her clergy to use Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Slavonic, in Mass, just as strictly as she requires others to employ Latin.

LAST THINGS

865 The four last things are generally said to be Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. These are not all, but the most important, things which happen to men as they leave and after they leave this world.

LATERAN CHURCH AND COUNCILS

868 The family of the Plautii Laterani had a magnificent house on the Coelian hill. This house, or a house on the same site, was known as the Lateran palace. Close to it is the Church of "the Savior," known as the Basilica Constantiniana, and also – because the Emperor Constantine built a Baptistery there, and Baptisteries are associated with St. John Baptist – as the Church of St. John Lateran. It is the chief or Cathedral Church of Rome, and there the "Stations" are held on many solemn days. In this church, besides an important council in 649 against the Monothelites, five general councils have been held.

LATRIA

871 Latria in itself simply means "service," whether rendered to God or man; but the usage of the Church has made it a technical term for that supreme worship which can lawfully be offered to God alone.

LAVABO

874 The first word of verse 6 of Ps. xxv., which the priest recites while the acolytes pour water on his hands shortly before the Canon of the Mass. The rite indicates the perfect purity of heart with which the priest should celebrate those holy mysteries.

LAY BROTHERS AND SISTERS

877 Persons who take the habit and vows of religion, but are employed mostly in manual labor, and are exempt therefore from the duties of choir, when they exist, or from the studies, &c., incumbent on the other members of religious orders, where there is no choir.

LAYMAN

880 One of the people as distinguished from the Clergy.

LAZARISTS

883 This is the popular name for the "Congregation of the Priests of the Mission," founded by St. Vincent of Paul in 1624, and established a few years later in the College of St. Lazare at Paris.

884 The congregation was confirmed by a bull of Pope Urban VIII in 1632 and its object was the sanctification of its members, the work of the missions and the training of the Clergy. St. Vincent, aided by several priests who had for many years been associated with him in preaching in the country districts and looking after the poor, the orphans and waifs abandoned by their parents or guardians, was invited in 1632 by the Archbishop of Paris to take up his abode in the College of St. Lazare. At present the congregation has missions in nearly every land.

LEAGUE OF THE CROSS

886 The Catholic Total Abstinence League of the Cross was founded in 1873, for the purpose of uniting Catholics in a holy warfare against intemperance, and of thereby raising the religious, social, and domestic state of our Catholic people. "Total abstinence from intoxicating drinks is for all persons the surest safeguard, and for vast numbers the only safeguard, from intemperance. Those, therefore, who abstain from intoxicating drinks for the sake of Christian prudence towards themselves, or of Christian charity towards others, by so doing please Almighty God." The fundamental rules of the League are:

887 1. The pledge is of total abstinence, and is taken without limit as to time.

888 2. Only Catholics can become members of the League.

889 3. All members, after they have joined the League, must live as good, practical Catholics.

890 4. No one who is not a practical Catholic can, as long as he fails to practice his religion, hold any office in the League.

891 The form of the pledge is: "I promise to you, Rev. Father, and to the League of the Holy Cross, by the help of God's grace, to abstain from all intoxicating drinks." To this is usually added: "And I also promise to be faithful in the practices of my holy religion." The pledge is not an oath or a vow, and is not of itself binding under sin. But it would be a sin for those to break the pledge who know that they would thereby expose themselves to the danger of intemperance. Many indulgences have been granted to members by the Holy See.

LECTOR

889 A cleric, in minor orders.

LEGATE

892 Among the Romans legati were either ambassadors, or officers of high rank appointed with the sanction of the senate to assist a dictator, consul, or proconsul in the performance of his duties, military or civil. In modern acceptation the term is confined to ecclesiastics representing the Holy See and armed with its authority. Legates are of three kinds – legates a latere, emissaries or nuncios (legati missi, nuntii, internuntii), and legates by virtue of their office (legati nati). The dignity of a legate a latere is, and has long been, confined to cardinals, though in former times it was not so: e. g. Pandulf, the legate sent by Innocent III to receive the submission of King John, was only a sub-deacon. Legates a latere are either ordinary or extraordinary: the first govern provinces belonging to the Ecclesiastical State – such as were (before 1860) the Romagna and the Marchie of Ancona – in the Pope's name; the second class are deputed to visit foreign Courts on extraordinary occasions, such as a negotiation for a peace, or arrangements for a general council, &c. Legati missi correspond to the ambassadors and ministers maintained by secular States at foreign capitals. Formerly they were called apocrisiarii: now, nuncios or internuncios – the latter being of inferior rank. Legati nati are, or were, archbishops to whose sees by an ancient Papal concession the legatine authority was permanently attached.

LEGEND, THE GOLDEN

895 By this name is known the earliest collection made in the West of the Lives of Saints, as the work of Metaphrastes was the earliest Greek collection of the same kind.

LENT

898 A fast of forty days preceding Easter, kept, after the example of Moses, Elias, and, above all, of Christ Himself, in order to prepare the faithful for the Easter feast, and also of course on account of the general advantages to be derived from a long period of penance.

LIBERA ME

901 A responsory sung by the choir after the Mass of the dead and before the absolution of the corpse.

LIMBO

904 The Latin word Limbo was used in the middle ages for that place in which the just who died before Christ were detained till our Lord's resurrection from the dead.

LITANIES

907 A form of united prayer by alternate sentences, in which the clergy lead and the people respond: usually of a penitential character. A litany may thus be distinguished from other modern devotions, such as that of the Stations, in which, with much that is alternate, there is also much that is not. There are four forms of litany recognized by the Church as suitable for use in public worship; viz., the Litany of the Saints, that of the Blessed Virgin (usually called the Litany of Loreto), that of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, and that of the Sacred Heart.

LITTLE OFFICE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

910 It consists of psalms, lessons, and hymns in honor of the Blessed Virgin, arranged in seven hours like the Breviary office, but much shorter. It is not influenced by the course of the Church year, except that the Alleluia is omitted in Lent, and that a change is made in the office from Advent to the Purification.

LITURGY

913 The word means a public service. In the fourth century the use of the word liturgy for priestly ministrations was fully recognized and ceremonies were adopted and approved. From that date down at least to the sixth century it was used for any solemn service (that is evening prayer, baptism, &c.), but especially for the Eucharistic service.

LORETO

916 Loreto is the famous Santa Casa, or Holy House, which tradition asserts to be the very same building in which the Blessed Virgin Mary dwelt at Nazareth, where she heard the message of the archangel, and where the Holy Family resided during the childhood and hidden life of our Lord.

LOW SUNDAY

919 The first Sunday after Easter. The name Low Sunday emphasizes the contrast between the great Easter solemnity and the Sunday which ends the octave.

LUNETTE

922 A circular crystal case, fitting into an aperture in the monstrance, in which the Blessed Sacrament is placed for exposition.

Section M: Madonna to Mystical Theology

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - M

928 (Texto do capítulo)

MADONNA

931 ("My Lady") A name given to representations of the Blessed Virgin in art, and occasionally used as an invocation in devotions to her.

MAJOR ORDERS

934 The superior ranks of the sacred ministry – that is, priests, deacons, and subdeacons – are said to have major orders.

MANTELLETTA

937 A vestment made of silk or woollen stuff, open but fastened in front, reaching almost to the knees, without sleeves but with openings for the arms and with a low collar around the neck. It is worn by cardinals, bishops, abbots, and the prelates of the Roman Court, as well as by others to whom the privilege is granted by the Pope. It is used to cover the rochet, so that bishops wear it only when they are out of their dioceses, the uncovered rochet being the sign of jurisdiction.

MARIST FATHER

940 This religious order was founded early in the present century by the Very Reverend Father Colin, who was born on August 7, 1790, in the diocese of Lyons. From the beginning the society of Mary devoted itself to the foreign missions.

MARRIAGE

943 Marriage is a natural contract between man and woman, which Christ has raised to the dignity of a sacrament.

MARTYR

946 A witness for Christ. In early times this title was given generally to those who were distinguished witnesses for Christ, then to those who suffered for Him; lastly, after the middle of the third century, the title was restricted to those who actually died for Him.

MARTYROLOGY

949 A list of martyrs and other saints, and the mysteries commemorated on each day of the year, with brief notices of the life and death of the former.

MARY

952 Mary, the daughter or Joachim and Anne, received the highest dignity possible to a mere creature. She was not merely the passive instrument of the Incarnation. By the free use of her own will she co-operated in our salvation, and was associated with her divine Son. She was not indeed the mother of the Godhead, but she was the mother of God, for the simple reason that Christ her Son was God and man in one Person. True, her Son did not take his divine nature from her, any more than a son who is mere man receives his soul from his mother. The soul is infused by God, but as body and soul are united in one human person, we reasonably speak of a woman as the mother of her son, not merely as the mother of a human body. And granting this, it is strange that sincere Christians should stumble on the language in which the Church speaks of Mary. She is exalted above the angels, for surely God's mother is nearer to Him than the angels who stand before the throne. From her Christ took the blood He was to shed for her and for us all. Moreover, whereas the two great dignities of virginity and maternity are, according to God's ordinary law, incompatible, in Mary's case they were united. Joseph "took unto him his wife, and he knew her not until she brought forth her first-born son: and he called his name Jesus" (Matt. i. 24, 25).

MARY, FEASTS OF

955 At present, the number of her principal feasts are twenty.

MASS

958 From the word "Missa," and comes from "mittere," "to send," and designates the sacrifice of the Altar.

MEDIATOR

961 Christ was the "one mediator between God and man," and it is plain that St. Paul vindicates this office as one proper to Christ alone, for the passage runs: "There is one God, one mediator also between God and men, a man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself also a ransom for all," &c.

MEDITATION AND MENTAL PRAYER

964 Meditation may be defined as the application of the three powers of the soul to prayer – the memory proposing a religious or moral truth, the understanding considering this truth in its application to the individual who meditates, while the will forms practical resolutions and desires grace to keep them. It is distinguished from vocal prayer, because in meditation no words are spoken but all attention is given to the contemplation of the truths under consideration. St. Ignatius of Loyola was the first who reduced the rules of meditation to system, and contributed to the spread of meditation at a regular hour and for a fixed space of time.

MERCY, SPIRITUAL AND C0RPORAL WORKS OF

967 The Seven Works of Corporal Mercy are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit prisoners, visit the sick, harbor strangers, bury the dead (Matt. xxv. 35, 36; Tob. xii. 12); of Spiritual Mercy, to convert shiners, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, console the afflicted, bear wrongs patiently, forgive injuries, pray for the living and the dead.

MERIT

970 Merit, in its theological sense, is a quality which belongs to the moral actions of free and responsible agents and makes these actions worthy of reward. Merit implies a real proportion between the work done and the reward given. Thus, a man who labors well deserves, or merits, his wages. To put it in another way, a man who merits can claim his reward as a matter of justice, but one who has been promised a reward out of all proportion to the work done may appeal, to the fidelity and kindness, but not, strictly speaking, to the justice of the donor. In order to merit, a man must be free, since he cannot claim reward for a service which he has no power to withhold, and which, therefore, is not his to give; what he does must, obviously, be good; it must be done in the service of the person who is to confer the reward, and the latter must have agreed to accept the work done and to reward it, since nobody is bound to pay for work, however excellent, which he does not want.

METROPOLITAN

973 The prelate of the most important city (metropolis) in the province or country.

MINOR ORDERS

976 The inferior ranks of the sacred ministry: door-keepers, lectors, exorcists, and acolytes – are said to be in minor orders.

MIRACLES

979 The Latin word miraculum means something wonderful – not necessarily supernatural. In the theology of the Church the word miracle is used commonly of events so wonderful that they cannot be accounted for by natural causes.

980 Miracles are called "signs," "marvels," "prodigies," "wonders," and are a token of God's presence, and they confirm the mission and the teaching of those who deliver a message in God's name. They are often described as "powers," inasmuch as they exhibit God's powers. They are evidences that new powers have entered our world and are working thus for the good of mankind. Christ's miracles are often called his "works," as if the form of working to be looked for from Him in whom the "fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily." They were the characteristic works of Him who came to free us from the bondage of Nature, to be our life, to overcome death, to lead us, first to a worthier and more unselfish life, and then to a better world in which sorrow and death shall be no more. They are the first-fruits of his power; the pledges of that mighty working by which, one day, He will subject all things to Himself and make all things new.

981 From a different point of view, then, the same event is a "prodigy," a "sign," and a "power"; each word presenting it under a distinct .and instructive aspect.

982 We cannot to consider here, in full, the objections made to the possibility of miracles, but can only give in brief the teaching of Catholic theologians, and particularly of St. Thomas, on the matter. The latter defines a miracle as an effect which "is beyond the order (or laws) of the whole of created nature."

983 The definition given makes it unreasonable to deny the possibility of miracles, unless we also deny the existence of God. Usually, He works according to natural laws, and this for our good, since we should be unable to control natural agents and to make them serve us, unless we could count on the effects known causes will produce. But God is necessarily free; He is not subject to natural laws, and He may, for wise reasons, make created things the instruments of effects which are beyond their natural capacity. A miracle is not an effect without a cause; on the contrary, it is a miracle because produced by God, the First Cause. It is not a capricious exercise of power. The same God who operates usually, and for wise ends, according to the laws which He has implanted in Nature, may on occasion, and for ends equally wise, produce effects which transcend these laws.

MISSAL

982 The book which contains the complete service for Mass throughout the year.

MISSION

985 Mission is inseparably connected with jurisdiction, so that he who is validly sent exercises a lawful jurisdiction in the place to which, and over the persons to, whom, he is sent; and, on the other hand, any person exercising a lawful jurisdiction must be held to have received a true mission. Mission precedes jurisdiction in the order of thought, but is coincident with it in practice.

986 A priest having the care of souls within a certain district must be sent to that district by the bishop, who has the general charge of all the souls within his diocese; he cannot appoint himself to it. "How shall they preach unless they be sent)" In a regular parish there may be more priests than one engaged in ministerial functions, but one alone has the responsibility, of the souls within it. He has ordinary, not delegated faculties; other priests ministering within his parish have not ordinary faculties.

MISSIONS, POPULAR

988 To quicken faith and piety among Christians whom their life in the world has made tepid and careless, is for the pastors of the Church, an object of no less solicitude than to convert the heathen. In substance, mission-preaching has been employed 'in every age of the Church; it was applied with extraordinary fruit by St. Francis and St. Dominic; but its reduction to a system has been the work of comparatively recent times, and was commenced by St. Vincent of Paul, when (1617) he preached his first mission to the peasants of Folleville. The Jesuits, Redemptorists, Passionists, Paulists. Dominicans, Carmelites, Augustinians and other orders have applied themselves with special earnestness to this branch of pastoral work.

MITRE

991 A head-dress worn by bishops, abbots, and in certain cases by other distinguished ecclesiastics.

MIXED MARRIAGES

994 Mixed Marriages are marriages between persons of different religions. A marriage between a baptized and unbaptized person is null and void; one between a Catholic and a person of another communion is valid, but, unless a dispensation has been obtained from the Pope or his delegate, unlawful.

MONK

997 In the middle of the third century the persecution of Decius caused many fervent Christians to leave the cities and flee into the deserts, there to find that freedom in the divine service which human laws denied them. For a long time they lived apart, each in his own cell, supporting themselves by daily labor. The anchorites or hermits were those who specially desired solitude; of these St. Paul was the founder. St. Anthony, whose life embraces more than a hundred years (250-356), chose for a time absolute solitude, but in his later years he allowed a number of disciples to gather round him, who, though living each apart, were eager to profit by the depth and wisdom of his advice, and ready to practice whatever rules he might impose. Thus St. Anthony was the founder of Monachism, although the coenobitic life, which has been a characteristic of nearly all the monks of later times, had not yet appeared. Of this, St. Pachomius is regarded as the originator, who, about A. D. 315, built monasteries in the Thebaid.

MONSTRANCE

1000 From the Latin monstrare, "to show;" the vessel in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed at Benediction or carried in procession. It has a large stem and base like a chalice, and the upper portion is generally fashioned to represent rays issuing from the host as a central sun.

MORAL THEOLOGY

1003 Moral Theology is the science of the laws which regulate duty. It is distinguished from moral philosophy or ethics, which is concerned with the principles of right and wrong, and with their application, so far only as they can be discovered from the light of nature; whereas moral theology estimates the moral character of actions by their conformity, or want of conformity, not only to the natural standard of ethics, but also to the Christian revelation and positive law of the Church. It is different from dogmatic theology, which investigates the truths of revelation and positive law of the Church, and the conclusions which may be drawn from them; moral theology, on the other hand, looks primarily to duty and practice, not to speculative truth; it considers faith as a moral obligation, and the truths of faith as principles of conduct.

MOZZETTA

1006 A short vestment, quite open in front, which can, however, be buttoned over the breast, covering the shoulders, and with a little hood behind. It is worn by the Pope, by cardinals, bishops, abbots, and others who do so by custom or Papal privilege.

MYSTICAL SENSE OF SCRIPTURE

1009 In the historical or literal sense words signify things; but sometimes God ordained that the things signified by the words should signify other things, and so we get the mystical or spiritual sense. St. Paul, for example, tells us in the Epistle to the Galatians that Ismael and Isaac were types of Jewish bondage and Christian liberty. The mystical sense is subdivided into the allegorical, where the things of the old signify the mysteries of the new law, the moral where they signify moral precepts, the anagogical where they signify future glory.

MYSTICAL THEOLOGY

1012 One of the subdivisions of theology classed under the more general division of Moral Theology. It is sometimes identified with Ascetical Theology, but it seems more proper to confine its definition in such a way as to distinguish it precisely by its specific name of "Mystical," from that which is more properly called "Ascetical." According to this stricter definition it is described as comprising two parts-viz. the doctrinal and the experimental. The experimental is defined as "a pure knowledge of God which the soul ordinarily receives in a luminous darkness or obscure light of sublime contemplation, together with an experimental love so intimate that the soul, losing itself altogether, is united to God and transformed into Him." This is called Theology because it contains acts proximately referred to God as their object. Mystical because acquired by a secret operation known only to God and the recipient of His Divine favors; and experimental, because it is only by personal spiritual experience that such a knowledge of God can be gained.

Section N: Nativity to Nuncio

1015 (Texto do capítulo)

Catholic Pocket Dictionary - N

1018 (Texto do capítulo)

NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

1021 Nothing is known about the place, date, or circumstances of the Blessed Virgin's birth. Joachim and Anne are known to have been her parents, and this knowledge comes from the earliest authority, which is the "Protevangelium Jacobi," an apocryphal Gospel of early date. It is recognized by St. John of Damascus and James, bishop of Edessa, while the "Liber Pontificalis," mentions in the life of Pope Leo III that he had the history of St. Joachim and St. Anne painted in the Basilica of St. Paul. The feast of St. Anne on July 26, which is mentioned in the Roman and other Martyrologies, was sanctioned for the whole Church by Gregory XIII, in 1584. Leo XIII raised both feasts (St. Joachim and St. Anne) to be doubles of the second class.

NAVE

1024 That portion of the church reserved for the laity.

NECROLOGY

1027 A book containing the names of the dead, especially of bishops who had built the church to which the necrology belonged, of benefactors, friends, &c., that they might be prayed for.

NEOPHYTE

1030 The term was applied in the primitive Church to converts newly baptized.

NOVENA

1033 A devotion covering a period of nine day before the Feasts of our Lord, the B.V.M., and Patron Saints.

NOVICE

1036 The name of "novice" is given to those persons, whether men or women, and whatever their age may be, who have entered some religions house and desire to embrace its rule.

NUN

1039 A nun is a maid or widow who has consecrated herself to God by the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and bound herself to live in a convent under a certain rule.

NUNCIO

1042 A permanent official representative at some foreign court. The diplomatic agents of the Pope are of three classes: nuncios, inter-nuncios, and apostolic delegates.

Section O: Oath to Ostiarius

1045 (Texto do capítulo)

Catholic Pocket Dictionary - O

1048 (Texto do capítulo)

OATH

1051 The calling on God to witness that the statement made is true or to make the fulfillment of a promise bind under a more solemn obligation.

OBLATE, FATHERS

1054 This is a congregation of secular priests, who "offer" themselves to the bishop, to be employed by him in any part of the diocese he may choose, and upon any work which he may commit to them. St. Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, having found in his large diocese, parts of which were greatly neglected or totally abandoned, the need of a band of zealous self-sacrificing laborers, who would be ready to go and do at once whatever he commanded them to do, founded this congregation of "Oblates of the Blessed Virgin and St. Ambrose" in 1578. Be established them in the church and presbytery of the Holy Sepulchre at Milan. Dividing the congregation into six "assemblies," he directed that two of these should always remain in the community house in the city, while the four others were at work in other parts of the diocese.

OCTAVE

1057 The Church celebrates certain feasts till the eighth or octave day. The number eight is supposed to represent perfection, for the seven days of the week are taken as figures of the ages of the world, and the eighth of the eternal rest which is to follow them.

OFFERTORY

1060 An antiphon which used to be sung by the choir while the faithful made their offerings of bread and wine for the Maas, and for the support of the clergy. The Offertory is said immediately after the Creed.

OILS, HOLY

1063 There are three holy oils, consecrated by the bishops on Holy Thursday, and received from him by the priests who have charge of parishes and districts.

1064 · The oil of catechumens, used in blessing fonts, in baptism, consecration of churches, of altars whether fixed or portable, ordination of priests, blessing and coronation of kings and queens.

1065 · Chrism, used in blessing the font, in baptism and confirmation, consecration of a bishop, of paten and chalice, and in the blessing of bells.

1066 · Oil of the sick, used in Extreme Unction and the blessing of bells.

OLD CATHOLICS

1066 A name assumed by certain priests and lay-people in Germany who protested against the Vatican definition of Papal infallibility, and formed themselves into a separate body.

OPUS OPERATUM

1069 A word used by the early theologians and adopted by the Council of Trent to express the nature of the effects which the sacraments produce.

ORATE, FRATRES, &c.

1072 So the address begins in which, after the Offertory and Lavabo, the priest bids the people pray that his sacrifice and theirs may be acceptable to God.

ORATORY

1075 In the earliest times Mass could only be said in private houses, and after the erection of churches it was still often said in private dwellings. The growth of the parochial system led to a distinction between parochial churches and oratories or chapels. An oratory is public or private, according as it has or has not a door opening into a public thoroughfare. The older canon law allowed Mass to be celebrated in either with the bishop's permission. But the Council of Trent limited episcopal powers in the matter, and the following is the present state of the law. A bishop may always permit Mass in a public oratory, blessed and set apart for divine service. In the oratories of religious, seminaries, hospitals, &c.

1076 · In his own house.

1077 · In the house, wherever it may be, in which he resides at the time.

1078 · In private oratories for just cause and for a time.

1079 · But a permanent privilege of celebrating in a private oratory can be granted by the Pope alone.

ORATORY OF ST. PHILIP NERI

1078 Philip Neri, a native of Florence, was ordained priest in 1551. He obtained (1558) from the administration of the Church of St. Jerome leave to build over one of the aisles of that church a chapel, to which he gave the modest name of an "oratory," whence arose the name of the congregation. Known as the Oratory about this time many persons afterwards eminent in the Church and the world joined him, amongst whom were Cardinal Baronius, the ecclesiastical historian. In 1564 he was requested to undertake the charge of the Church of St. John the Baptist, Rome. From this date the commencement of the congregation is reckoned. The Oratory was introduced into England in 1847 by Dr. (afterwards Cardinal) Newman, who, during his long sojourn in Rome following upon his conversion, had studied closely the work of the holy founder and become deeply imbued with the spirit of his institute.

ORDER, HOLY

1081 Holy Order, according to Catholic doctrine, is a sacrament of the new law, by which spiritual power is given and grace conferred for the performance of sacred duties.

ORDINARY, THE

1084 By this name, in the language of the Church, is denoted the diocesan bishop, "who, in union with the common Father of Christendom, in virtue of the mission and the powers which he holds from our Lord, as a lawful successor of the Apostles, is called of common right, jure ordinario, to accomplish the Divine work of the sanctification of the faithful in the diocese over which he presides." The ordinary performs all ecclesiastical functions – teaching, administering the sacraments, governing the flock of Christ – in his own right; priests' perform them by virtue of the delegated right which they derive from their bishop.

ORDINATION

1087 The chief rules of law concerning the collation of holy orders, in relation to Persons, Times, and Places, form the subject of the present article.

1088 Persons. – Women are incapable of being validly ordained, inasmuch as both the healthy natural instincts of mankind and positive Apostolic injunction (1Cor. xiv. 34; 1 Tim. ii. 11) require that women should be "silent in the churches." When mention is made in the "Corpus Juris," of the ordination of deaconesses, this is to be understood not of ordination properly so called, but of a special benediction in virtue of which, in convents of women, those receiving it were empowered to read homilies or gospels before the community.

1089 To receive holy orders validly, it is necessary to have been baptized and, at least for adults, to be acting voluntarily. To receive them licitly, it is necessary to be in a state of grace, to have been confirmed, to take them in regular order, to have attained the canonical age required, to be under no censure, to be sufficiently educated, to be ordained either by one's own bishop, or, if otherwise, with his license and after the production of his dimissorial letters, and, lastly, to have a legitimate and sufficient title, by which is understood, either a benefice, or a patrimony adequate to a man's support, or religious poverty – that is the poverty which religious men embrace by vow. All orders in the regular course of things are conferred by bishops; but abbots also have the power of conferring minor orders on their own' subjects.

1090 Times. – The canonical age required for the tonsure and the three lowest grades of orders (ostiarius, lector, and exorcist) is seven years completed; for the acolyteship, twelve years completed. For the subdiaconate, the canonical age is 22, for the diaconate 23, and for the priesthood 25; in these three cases it is the beginning not the completed year that is meant. For the episcopate the full age of 30 years is required.

1091 The tonsure can be conferred on any day, at any hour, and in any place. Minor orders can be conferred at general ordinations, and also on any Sunday or holiday, and not necessarily during Mass. Sacred orders, according to the law, can only be conferred on the Saturdays in the four Ember weeks, on the fifth Saturday in Lent, or on Holy Saturday, and always during Mass. But since the plenitude of the Papal authority can dispense with any positive law, it is to be noted that orders are legally conferred on the members of all those religious orders which have received a special privilege of such a tenor from the Holy See at times other than those named by the law. The episcopate is conferred on a Sunday, or on the festival of an Apostle, unless a Papal indult has authorized the choice of some other day.

1092 Two grades of sacred orders that is the diaconate and the subdiaconate--cannot be conferred on the same day.

1093 The Council of Trent enjoined (sess. xxv. 8, De. Ref.) that sacred orders should be publicly conferred in the cathedral or in one of the principal churches of the diocese in the presence of the canons. Minor orders the bishop can confer in his own palace. But notwithstanding the injunction of the council, custom has long sanctioned the collation of sacred orders by the bishop in his own house or chapel, if any reasonable cause can be shown for the non-compliance with the law.

OSTIARIUS

1090 Or Doorkeeper, holds the lowest of the minor orders in the Church. His office was more important in ancient times. He had to prevent the heathen from entering and disturbing the service, to keep the laity separate from the clergy, men from women, and to see generally that decorum was maintained. He had to guard the church and all that it contained, to open the church and sacristy at certain hours, to open the book for the preacher.

Section P: Palla to Pyx

1093 (Texto do capítulo)

Catholic Pocket Dictionary - P

1096 (Texto do capítulo)

PALLA

1099 A small cloth of linen used to cover the chalice.

PALLIUM

1102 A band of white wool worn on the shoulders. It has two strings of the same material and four purple crosses worked on it. It is worn by the Pope and sent by him to patriarchs, primates and archbishops.

PALM SUNDAY

1105 The Sunday before Easter, on which the Church celebrates Christ's entry into Jerusalem.

PARADISE

1108 An old Persian word adopted at an early date by the Hebrews. It only occurs three times in the Old Testament, and always means simply "a park." It is used for that particular garden or park in which Adam and Eve were placed; and in the later Jewish theology for that part of Hades which was inhabited by the souls of the just, and which we call "Limbo."

PARISH

1111 A parish in the modern sense is "a defined district of territory, the boundaries of which are settled by the Pope or by the bishop of the diocese, having one fixed rector, with power to rule and judge the people living within it, and to administer to them the sacraments.

PARISH PRIEST

1114 A person lawfully deputed and bound to minister in his own name the word of God and the sacraments to certain members of a diocese, who in their turn are to a certain extent bound to receive them from him.

PASSIONIST FATHERS

1117 Their full title is "Congregation of the Discalced Clerks of the most holy Cross and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ." Their founder, St. Paul of the Cross, born near Genoa in 1694, put on the habit of the order in 1720. In 1721, having compiled the constitutions which he wished his followers to observe, Paul went to Rome in order to obtain their sanction. Approval having been received Paul established the first monastery of his congregation at Monte Argentaro, near Orbitello, in 1737. The rules of the society were confirmed by Benedict XIV in 1746. In 1867 Paul of the Cross was canonized by Pius IX.

1118 The life of a Passionist is very austere. They fast three days in every week, besides Advent and Lent; they wear nothing on their feet but sandals; they rise night to say Matins, and, indeed, recite the office in choir at all the canonical hours. They divide their time between contemplation and action; being indefatigable in giving missions and retreats, especially to persons living in community. Besides the three usual vows, they make a fourth – that they will do their utmost to keep alive in the hearts of the faithful the memory of our Lord's passion. On the day of their profession they make a vow of perseverance in the congregation. Nevertheless, they only take simple vows.

PASSION SUNDAY

1120 The Sunday before Palm Sunday. With Passion Sunday the more solemn part of Lent begins; the images are veiled with violet at the first vespers; the Judica psalm and the Gloria Patri are omitted at the Introit.

PASTOR

1123 Jesus Christ, who, in the Preface for Festivals of the Apostles, is called "Pastor aeternus," communicates the characteristics of a good shepherd of souls to all those who faithfully discharge the office of governing in his Church. This communication is preeminently made to the Roman Pontiff, who, in the collect "pro Papa" is described as "pastor ecclesiae"; it also appertains in lesser degrees to bishops and priests, upon each one of whom it devolves to lead, feed, and gently rule, like a shepherd, the flock committed to him.

PATEN

1126 A plate used from the earliest times to receive the Host consecrated at Mass.

PATER NOSTER

1129 The prayer taught by our Lord to His disciples.

PATRIARCH

1132 The dignity of Patriarch is the highest grade in the hierarchy of jurisdiction. Immediately next to the rank of Patriarch may come that of "Primate"; metropolitans or archbishops follow; under each metropolitan are ranged his suffragan bishops.

PATRON AND TITULAR OF CHURCH PLACE

1135 The title of a church is the name it bears, that is of the Trinity, St. Augustine, St. Mary. The patron saint is that saint under whom special protection the Church has been placed. Thus titular is a wider term, comprehending the persons of the Trinity, mysteries e. g. Corpus Christi, and saints.

1136 The patron of a church is generally a saint or an angel.

PAULIST FATHERS

1138 The Institute of the Missionary Priests of St. Paul the Apostle was founded in New York by the Rev. I. T. Hecker and several associates in the year 1858. Its members are engaged in ordinary parochial work, in giving missions, in the education of their scholastics, and in literary labor.

1139 They devote their principal labors to the spread of the true, practical knowledge of Catholic doctrines among the non-Catholic people of this country. Since the inception of the order the Paulists have done splendid work in behalf of the Church in making converts.

PAX VOBIS

1141 Pax Vobis is said by bishops after the Gloria in Excelsis." If the "Gloria" be not said, then the bishop's salutation is the same as the priest's--viz. "Dominus vobiscum." The fact that "Pax vobis" was our Lord's Easter greeting to the Apostles made it unsuitable for penitential days.

PECTORAL CROSS

1144 A small cross of precious metal worn on the breast by bishops and abbots as a mark of their office.

PENANCE, SACRAMENT OF

1147 Penance is a sacrament instituted by Christ in the form of judgment for the remission of sin done after baptism, this remission being effected by the absolution of the priest, joined to true supernatural sorrow, true purpose of amendment, and sincere confession on the part of the sinner.

PENITENTIAL DISCIPLINE

1150 The right of punishing members for offences against its laws, and depriving them altogether or for a time of its privileges, belongs to any well-constituted society. It was exercised by the Synagogue, Christ sanctioned the use of it in His Church, and St. Paul enforced the penitential law of the Church against an offender. Of course, penitential discipline in the Church, though analogous to the procedure of human societies, claims a higher origin and is of a much more serious nature. The power of inflicting spiritual penalties has been put into the hands of the Church by Christ Himself; it is exercised in His name; it may involve deprivation of the sacraments, which are the great appointed means of grace; and, on the other hand, it is the object of penitential discipline, not only to preserve the holiness of the Church, but also to awaken wholesome fear and sorrow in the heart of the offender while there is yet time, "that his soul may be saved in the day of the Lord."

PENITENTIAL PSALMS

1153 A name given to seven psalms which express sorrow for sin and desire of pardon. The psalms are 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, 142.

PENTECOST

1156 The day on which the Holy Ghost descended miraculously on the Apostles. The ancient tradition that this Pentecost fell on a Sunday is confirmed by John xviii. 28, for if the Friday on which Christ died was the eve of the passover, i. e. Nisan 14, then the 16th, the first of the fifty days, and the fiftieth day itself must both have been Sundays.

PERJURY

1159 A lie confirmed with an oath. To call God as a witness of what is false implies either that He does not know the truth or that He would testify to what is false. It is therefore a grievous sin against the virtue of religion.

PETER'S PENCE

1162 An annual tax paid to the Holy See.

PILGRIM, PILGRIMAGE

1165 The Church has approved the use of pilgrimage to holy places as a very potent help and incentive to a devout life. She also favors the practice, because she recognizes the undoubted fact that God has often granted, and still grants, interior and exterior favors, graces, and miracles, at particular places or shrines, to honor certain mysteries, and saints.

1166 The usual motives for a pilgrimage were: the desire to realize the objects of faith and quicken religious feeling in the soul, the fulfillment of a vow or to obtain some special benefit.

PLAIN CHANT

1168 Known also as Gregorian, or Roman, or Choral Chant, is the distinctive song of the Church. It has been defined to be a grave, diatonic, unison melody, set to the rhythm of the words, without strictly measured time, and used by the Church in her sacred functions.

PONTIFICAL

1171 A book containing the rites performed by a bishop.

POPE

1174 By the title Pope is meant the Bishop of Rome, who is, according to Catholic doctrine, the successor of St. Peter, and as, such the vicar of Christ, the visible head of the Church, the doctor and teacher of all the faithful.

PORTIUNCULA

1177 This is one of the three churches, at or near Assisi, which were rebuilt by St. Francis. This old church, just like the holy chapel at Loreto, is enclosed in the middle of a spacious church, annexed to a large convent.

POSSESSION, DEMONIACAL

1180 A state in which an evil spirit, by God's permission, inhabits the body of a rational being.

POST-COMMUNION

1183 A prayer or prayers, varying with the day, said after the priest has taken the ablutions.

PRAYER

1186 One of the acts of the virtue of religion.

PRAYER, APOSTLESHIP OF

1189 An association founded in 1844 by the Jesuits at Vals, in the diocese of Puy. The Popes have shown their approval of its spirit and work by many briefs and privileges.

PREACHING

1192 Christian preaching began with our Lord Himself, who entrusted the continuation of the work to His Apostles.

1193 The Council of Trent teaches that preaching is the "principal office of bishops," and requires bishops, parish priests, and all who have the care of souls, to preach personally, or in case of lawful impediment by deputy, at least on Sundays and solemn feasts.

PREDELLA

1195 The highest step of the sanctuary, on which the altar stands.

PREFACE

1198 A prelude or introduction to the Canon of the Mass, consisting in an exhortation to thanksgiving made by the celebrant, in the answers of the minister or choir, and a prayer ending with the Sanctus, in which God is thanked for His benefits. The Greeks have only one Preface, which in the Clementine liturgy is extremely long. The Gallican and Mozarabic rites, on the other hand, are rich in Prefaces, and so originally was the Roman liturgy, which from the sixth till about the end of the eleventh century had a special Preface for nearly every feast. The number was reduced in most churches of the Roman rite to eleven, the common one, found in nearly all the ancient Sacrament Aries, and ten others. The Preface of the Nativity, the Epiphany, the Cross, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, the Trinity, the Blessed Virgin, the Apostles, and the Common.

PRELATE

1201 A general name for an ecclesiastical dignitary.

PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

1204 The story of Mary's presentation in the temple when three years old and her sojourn there till her marriage first appears in Apocryphal Gospels – viz. the Protevangelium and that of the Birth of Mary.

PRIESTS, CHRISTIAN

1207 The priesthood is the second in rank among the holy orders. It is the office of a priest, according to the Pontifical, "to offer, bless, rule, preach, and baptize." First, he is empowered to offer that sacrifice bf the Mass which is the centre of all the Church's worship, because in it Christ, the great high-priest, continually offers Himself in a bloodless manner, and applies that one sacrifice consummated for our redemption on the cross. Next, the priest, standing between God and his fellowmen, blesses the people in God's name. It is his duty, if a flock is entrusted to him, to rule and to instruct it, and to administer the sacraments of Baptism, Penance, Holy Communion, and Extreme Unction, besides solemnizing Marriages, etc.

PRIMATE

1210 In early' times bishops were called primates who held any commanding position in the Church. Thus the Roman Pontiff is called the primate of the whole Church; and the Council of Chalcedon declared that the primacy, or first place before all was to be accorded to "the Archbishop of Old Rome."

1211 In modern times those bishops only are properly called primates to whose see the dignity of vicar of the Holy See was formerly annexed. Such sees are – Armagh in Ireland, Arles and Lyons in France, Mentz in Germany, Toledo in Spain, Gran in Hungary, Pisa and Salerno in Italy. None off these retain .any primatial jurisdiction except Gran, the archbishop of which has still the right of receiving appeals from all the other archbishops in Hungary. Changed circumstances – especially the great facility with which the most distant countries can now communicate with Rome – have made the jurisdiction of primates almost a thing of the past.

PRIVATE REVELATION

1213 The Christian religion is described as a revelation, on the ground that God through Christ has revealed truths to which the unaided reason could not have attained, or attained with the same certainty. This revelation was made to the whole world, just as the Mosaic religion, also a revelation, communicated God's will to a single people. But after the full revelation made to the whole human race through Christ, the New Testament speaks repeatedly of private revelations made to individuals for a particular end.

PROCESSIONS

1216 The solemn entrance of the clergy to the altar for Mass, Vespers, &c., or of their return after service to the sacristy. Processions are also made with or without the Blessed Sacrament, relics, statues of the Blessed Virgin or the saints. On Candlemas, Palm Sunday, St. Mark's Day, three Rogation Days, Corpus Christi, and at funerals.

PROCURATOR

1219 The authorized agent or representative of another. Thus it answers to a "proxy," when the question is of a marriage which one of the parties contracts through a representative, and to a "sponsor," when the question is of a baptism where one or both of the god-parents are not able to be present. In either of the above senses, a procurator contracts spiritual affinity not to himself, but to his principal.

PROFESSION, RELIGIOUS

1222 A religious or regular profession is a promise freely made and lawfully accepted, whereby a person of the full age required, after the completion of a year of probation, binds him- (or her-) self to a particular religious institute approved by the Church. The full age required is sixteen years, reckoned from the day of birth. The year of novitiate or probation must have been continuous; so that if the novice had interrupted it even for so short a time as two hours, e. g. by leaving the monastery with the intention of entering some other order, the year would have to be begun anew, from the date when he renewed his resolution of seeking admission to the order. Moreover, the year of probation must be spent in the religions habit, and in a monastery or other house designed for the purpose and approved by the Holy See.

1223 The matter of the promise is, the three essential vows of religion, poverty, obedience, and chastity, and any other vow or vows peculiar to the institute which the candidate is entering.

1224 The following in an outline of the manner of profession of a nun, as prescribed in the Roman Pontifical:

1225 "The Pontifical office is recited as far as the Gospel. The novices, habited as during their probationary year, each accompanied by two veiled religions, are led from the convent into the church, and go up two and two into the sanctuary; there they kneel; and the priest, officiating in the character of archpriest, requests of the bishop, seated on his throne before the altar, that they may be consecrated. The bishop asks whether they are fit and worthy, and, being assured that they are, bids them home up. They obey, and range themselves in a semicircle round the bishop, who, after a short exhortation, says to them in a loud voice, "Are you willing to persevere in the observance of holy chastity?" Each of them declares her willingness aloud, and after placing her joined hands between those of the bishop, pronounces her perpetual vows. They return to their former place, and kneel down, with heads bowed to the ground; the bishop kneels in front of the altar, and the choir sings the Litanies. After the sentence, "Ut omnibus fidelibus defunctis," etc., and the response, the bishop rises, and, with his mitre on, and the crosier in his hand, solemnly blesses the newly-professed, saying, "Vouchsafe, O Lord, to bless and consecrate these Thy servants." The response is made, "We beseech Thee, hear us."

1226 "After the Litanies tie professed rise, 'Veni, Creator,' is sung, and they withdraw into a robing-room to change their dress. The bishop blesses the different articles of their future costume, and first of all the habit, which they immediately put on. They reappear, two and two, and again form a semicircle round the bishop, who, after the prayers, etc., set down in the ritual, puts the veil on the head of each, the ring on her finger, and the bridal wreath on her head. After several solemn benedictions the Mass continues. At the Offertory the professed come up to lay their offerings on the altar, and at the Communion the bishop imparts to them the sacred particles which he has consecrated for them."

PROPHECY

1225 A prophecy is the certain prediction of future events which cannot be known by natural means.

PROPOSITIONS, CONDEMNED

1228 A proposition is "heretical" when it is directly opposed to a truth revealed by God and proposed by the Church; "erroneous," when it is contradictory to a truth deduced from two premises, one an article of faith, the other naturally certain; "proximate to error," when opposed to a proposition deduced with great probability from principles of faith; "haeresim sapiens," when it is capable of a good sense, but seems in the circumstances to have an heretical meaning; "evil sounding" or "offensive to pious ears," when opposed to piety and the reverence due to divine things according to the common mode of speaking; "scandalous," when it gives occasion to think or act amiss; "rash," when opposed to the common sense of the Church in matters of faith and morals.

PROVINCE

1231 The territory, comprising usually several dioceses, within which an archbishop or metropolitan exercises jurisdiction.

PROVINCIAL

1234 The religious who, being appointed either by the general of the order or by the chapter, has the general superintendence of the affairs of the order within the limits of a certain province.

PROVISION, CANONICAL

1237 By this is meant the regular conferring of, and induction into, ecclesiastical functions. It has three principal parts or stages – designation, collation or institution, and installation.

PURGATORY

1240 A place in which souls who depart this life in the grace of God suffer for a time because they still need to be cleansed from venial, or have still to pay the temporal punishment due to mortal sins, the guilt and the eternal punishment of which have been remitted. Purgatory is not a place of probation, for the time of trial, the period during which the soul is free to choose eternal life or eternal death, ends with the separation of soul and body.

PURIFICATION

1243 Purification, as distinct from ablution, is the pouring of wine into the chalice after the priest's communion, the wine being taken by the priest.

PURIFICATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

1246 The Levitical law declared women unclean for seven days after the birth of a male child; it excluded them from the sanctuary for thirty-three days more; on the fortieth they had to appear in the temple and to offer a lamb one year old for a holocaust and a young pigeon or turtle-dove as a sin-offering. In the case of the poor it was enough to offer two turtle-doves or young pigeons, one as a holocaust and the other as a sin-offering. The Blessed Virgin was not bound by this law, since the child born of her was conceived by the Holy Ghost. But her divine Son subjected Himself to the burdens of the law that He might set His seal to its divine origin, remove occasion of cavil, and leave us an example of humility; and similar motives induced the Virgin herself to undergo the rite of purification. It is this event which the Church celebrates in the feast which bears that name, and is kept for a reason virtually given already on the fortieth day after Christmas, i. e. February 2. However, we turn to the Mass for the day, we find no less prominence given to two other events which were simultaneous with the purification. Candles are blessed and carried in procession to remind us how the holy old man Simeon met our Lord, took Him in his arms, and declared Him the light of the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. Next, in the collect, epistle, and the gospel there are marked references to the fact that our Lord was at the same time presented in the temple before God and redeemed with five pieces of money.

PYX

1249 A vase in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.

Section Q: Quarantine to Quarter Tenses

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - Q

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QUARANTINE

1258 A period of forty days. Indulgences of seven years and seven quarantines are often granted for certain devotions.

QUARTER TENSES

1261 An old English name for the Ember Days.

Section R: Reception of Converts to Rubrics

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - R

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RECEPTION OF CONVERTS INTO THE CHURCH

1270 We speak here only of converts who are supposed to have received valid baptism.

1271 A baptized person who has previously belonged to an heretical sect has incurred the censures of the Church, and cannot therefore be restored to the sacraments or receive sacramental absolution till he has been absolved from censures. It may be that his error was no fault of his, and, if so, he was not a formal heretic. Still, he is treated as such in the external court of the Church, and the Pope reserves to himself the power of removing the bar of excommunication. In many countries, however, bishops receive power as delegates of the Holy See in their extraordinary or quinquennial faculties to absolve from the censure in question, and they communicate this power to all their priests who have faculties for hearing confessions.

RECLUSE

1273 The life of a recluse is still more solitary and austere than that of a hermit; it implies that the persons practicing it "live for ever shut up in their cells, never speaking to anyone but to the superior when he visits them, and to the brother who brings them necessaries. Their prayers and austerities are doubled, and their fasts more severe and more frequent."

RECTOR

1276 The ecclesiastic who has charge of the government of a congregation or a college is called the Rector.

REDEMPTION OF MANKIND THROUGH CHRIST

1279 The idea connected with redemption is that of being brought out of a state of bondage or slavery and restored to one's former estate. Christian usage applies the term to the acts by which Christ delivered mankind from the bondage of sin and the devil, and restored it to its original estate of friendship with God.

REDEMPTORIST FATHERS

1282 The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, was founded by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori in the year 1732.

1283 On February 25, 1749, Pope Benedict XIV approved the rules and confirmed the new institute by a solemn approbation, and St. Alphonsus called his congregation by the name of the Most Holy Redeemer. The members of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, besides the three simple but perpetual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, bind themselves by a vow of perseverance until death in the Institute, which they confirm in a promissory oath. They are bound by their vow of poverty to refuse all benefices, offices, or dignities outside their Congregation.

1284 The Congregation is under the Government of a superior-general, called the Rector Major, who is elected for life by a general chapter, and is assisted by six consultors. His residence is in Rome. The superiors of the various provinces (Provincials) and of the houses (Rectors), with their consultors, are appointed for a term of three years by the Rector Major.

REGINA COELI

1285 An anthem in honor of the Blessed Virgin which begins with these words, and after each of whose four clauses the Alleluia is repeated; it is said at the end of the offices of the Breviary during the Easter season.

REGULARS

1288 Persons of either sex observing a common rule of life, bound by three vows of religion, and obeying, with regard to dress, food, and the employment of their time, the statutes of the particular order or congregation to which they belong.

RELICS

1291 The word includes the bodies of departed saints, fragments of their bodies, articles or portions of articles which they have used, such as clothes, vestments, rosaries, and the like. The Church also venerates relics of Christ and His Blessed Mother. Such are the holy nails, lance, spear, or fragments of the True Cross, the girdle, veil, &c., of the Blessed Virgin.

RELIGION

1294 The word "religion" denotes the virtue which deals with giving to God the honor which is His due.

RELIGIOUS ORDERS

1297 The religious orders of men and women devote their lives to spreading the teachings of Christ and the practice of the Saints for human instruction. The religious life has sanctified and embraced the varied activities which have as their purpose the dispelling of that ignorance which is an obstacle to salvation. Hence has arisen the multitude of congregations which adorn the Catholic Church of our day, as follows:

RELIGIOUS ORDERS OF MEN

1300 See Listing.

RELIGIOUS ORDERS OF WOMEN

1303 See Listing.

RESERVATION OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST

1306 In all ages, of coarse, the Blessed Sacrament has been reserved for the sick, and the first Christians, in the times of persecution, kept the Eucharist at home and gave communion to themselves.

RESERVED CASES

1309 Certain sins, power to absolve from which is reserved by the superior to himself and not imparted to inferiors, who have ordinary or delegated jurisdiction over other sins. Papal cases are reserved to the Pope, episcopal cases to the bishop, the reserved cases of regulars to the prelates of the order.

RESPONSE

1312 Verses said after the Lessons, because part of it is said by one reader or singer to whom the choir answer with the rest of the responsory.

RESTITUTION

1315 The principle "Do wrong to no man" implies that if we have done another any injury we are bound to make good the loss. Thus, if we have converted another's property to our own use, we must give it back to him; if we have destroyed anything that is his, even without benefiting by the action, we must hand over to him an equivalent at our own cost. We are also bound to indemnify him for any inconvenience that he may have suffered by being deprived of his property. Restitution applies, as far as the case admits, to any injury to another's life or limb, wife, goods, or good name, and is binding under pain of mortal sin where the matter is serious. Absolution may be given before restitution ie actually made, provided that the penitent has the intention of restoring as soon as possible. If the intention is not carried out, the penitent grievously sins. It should be noted that they who cooperate in causing injury are bound to make restitution.

RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

1318 The doctrine of a general resurrection of the dead.

RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

1321 The mystery of Christ's resurrection from the dead. This is the greatest of Christ's miracles and the strongest proof of His Divinity.

RITUAL

1324 A book which contains the forms to be observed by priests in the administration of the sacraments in funeral services and burials and in most of the blessings which they can give by ordinary or delegated authority.

ROCHET

1327 A vestment of linen, fitting closely, with close sleeves reaching to the hands, proper to bishops and abbots. The use of it is also granted to certain other dignitaries.

ROGATION DAYS

1330 The Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day are observed by all Catholics of the Latin rite as days of solemn supplication, and are called Rogation days because the Litany of the Saints is chanted in the procession which takes place on each of the three days, rogatio being the Latin equivalent for the Greek word litany. Those who are bound to recite the breviary are also bound to say the litany privately, if not in procession. These litanies are called lesser, by comparison with the more ancient and solemn chanting of the litany on St. Mark's Day.

ROSARY

1333 A form of prayer in which fifteen decades of Aves, each decade being preceded by a Pater and followed by a Gloria, are recited on beads.

RUBRICS

1336 Directions for the order to be followed in Mass and other sacred rites.

Section S: Sacrament to Synodals

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - S

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SACRAMENT

1345 An outward and visible part of religion embracing ceremonies, words, and material things producing an invisible action of the Holy Ghost.

SACRAMENTALS

1348 The name "sacramental" was given to rites which have some outward resemblance to the sacraments, but which are not of divine institution.

SACRIFICE

1351 Sacrifice is an act of external worship in which God is honored as the Principle and End of man and all things, by the oblation of a visible creature, by submitting it to an appropriate transformation by a duly qualified minister.

SACRILEGE

1354 The violation of a sacred object.

SAINTS, INTERCESSION AND INVOCATION OF

1357 The Council of Trent teaches that "the saints reigning with Christ offer their prayers for men to God; that it is good and useful to call upon them with supplication, and, in order to obtain benefits from God through Jesus Christ, who alone is our Redeemer and Savior, to have recourse to their prayers, help, and aid." The prayer which we may address to the saints is of course wholly different from that which we offer to God or Christ. "We pray God," says the Roman Catechism, "Himself to give good or free as from evil things; we ask the saints, because they enjoy God's favor, to undertake our patronage and obtain from God the things me need. Hence we employ two forms of prayer, differing in the mode, for to God we say properly, Have mercy on us, Hear us; to the saints, Pray for us." Or, if we ask the Blessed Virgin or the saints to have pity on us we only beseech them to think of our misery, and to help us "by their favor with God and their intercession"; and "the greatest care must be taken by all not to attribute what belongs to God to any other," Two points, then, are involved in the Catholic doctrine – the intercession of the saints and the utility of invoking them.

SALVE REGINA

1360 The antiphon said after Lauds and Compline from Trinity Sunday to Advent.

SANCTUARY

1363 The part of the church round the high altar reserved for clergy.

SANCTUS, THE

1366 The Sanctus forms the conclusion of the Preface in all the liturgies.

SCAPULAR

1369 A dress which covers the shoulders. But it is best known among Catholics as the name of two little pieces of cloth worn out of devotion over the shoulders, under the ordinary garb, and connected by strings.

SCHISM

1372 A tear or rent (Matt. ix. 16; Mark ii. 21); a division of opinion (John vii. 43; ix. 16; x. 19); party spirit in the Christian Church (1 Cor. i. 10; xi. 18; xii. 25); and then, in Fathers, and theologians, a technical word to denote formal separation from the unity of the Church.

SEAL OF CONFESSION

1375 The obligation of the confessor in keeping absolutely secret the knowledge gained through sacramental confession.

SECRET

1378 A prayer said by the celebrant in a low voice, which cannot be heard except by himself, after the Offertory and before the Preface.

SECULAR CLERGY

1381 In proportion as the monastic institutions grew and spread, the contrast between the cloister or the cell and life outside of these was more vividly realized, and when the profession of Christianity had become general, the contrast was more marked between the secular and the monastic life. To the clergy of all ranks and orders serving Christ in the world, not bound by vows or by a rule of life, the term "secular" is applied.

SECULARISATION

1384 The extinction of the title by which property, whether real or personal, is held by the Church, and the placing of that property at the disposal of the secular power. It is obvious that such extinction of title cannot justly take effect except with the consent of the Holy See, as representing the whole Church. Historically, such consent has seldom been asked or obtained; the utmost concession to equity that civil governments are accustomed to make in such a case is to enter into a treaty with the, Holy See for regulating the compensation, generally a most inadequate one, awarded to the clergy, secular or regular, whose property has been secularized. This has been done in France, Austria, and Catholic countries generally. In England, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland, no compensation for the expropriation of Church property has ever been made.

SEMINARY

1387 A school or college for the training of young persons destined for the priesthood.

SEQUENCE

1390 A rhythm sometimes sung between the Epistle and Gospel; also called a "prose," because not in any regular metre. At first, the sequence was merely a prolongation of the last note of the Alleluia after the Epistle, till, to avoid the wearisome effect of such a prolongation, words, appropriate to the occasion, were substituted.

SERAPHIC DOCTOR, THE

1393 St. Bonaventure; he became Minister-General of the Franciscans in 1256.

SERVITES

1396 The order of the "Religious Servants of the Holy Virgin," commonly called the Servites was founded in 1233 by seven Florentine merchants, whose names were Monaldi, Manetti, , Amidei, Lantella, Uguccioni, Sostegni, and Falconieri.

SHROVETIDE

1399 The three days following Quinquagesima Sunday – the time for shrift or confession.

SIMONY

1402 Giving or receiving, or intending to give or to receive, anything temporal for anything spiritual.

SIN

1405 Any thought, word, or deed against the law of God.

SISTERHOODS

1408 See Listing.

SOCIETY OF THE FAITHFUL COMPANIONS OF JESUS

1411 This congregation, founded at Amiens by Madame de Bonnault d'Houet in 1820, under the direction of the Père Varin, of the Company of Jesus, to labor for the sanctification of souls and the female education.

SODALITY

1414 A religious congregation or association consisting of lay persons, male or female, or both male and female, meeting together at stated times, under ecclesiastical direction, for the performance of pious exercises and recommending to each of its members conformity in life and conversation to a body of rules, framed in order to promote the honor of God, devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the spread of good works, and the spiritual advancement of those who faithfully observe them.

SOUL

1417 The primary principle of life, and by living things all such as have the capacity of motion from within.

SPONSORS

1420 Persons who, according to the practice of the Church, assist at the solemn administration of baptism, to make profession of Christian faith in the name of the baptized.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS

1423 A series of pictures or statuary representing the different events in the Passion of Christ, each Station corresponding to a particular event. Usually, they are ranged round the church, the first station being placed on one side of the high altar, the last on the other. The Stations are among the most popular of Catholic devotions, and are to be found in every church. Sometimes they are erected in the open air, especially on roads which lead to some church or shrine standing on a hill.

STIGMATA

1426 The word stigmata signifies "I bear the marks of Jesus in my body." Such marks were set on slaves who had run away, on slaves consecrated to the service of a heathen god, on captives, and sometimes soldiers branded the name of their general on some part of their body.

1427 In the year 1228 St. Francis of Assisi was on Mount Alvernus to keep his annual fast of forty days in honor of St. Michael. One morning, says St. Buonaventure, about the 14th of September, the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, Francis saw a seraph flying towards him. There was a figure of a man attached to a cross between the wings. After the vision disappeared, the hands and feet of the saint were found to be marked with nails, and there was a wound in his side. The wounds were seen by some of the friars and by Alexander IV during the lifetime of the saint, and after his death by fifty friars, St. Clare, and a multitude of seculars. St. Buonaventure assures us that he had the testimony of Alexander IV from the Pope's own lips. The Church keeps a feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis, instituted by Benedict XII.

STOLE

1429 A narrow vestment made of the same stuff as the chasuble, and worn round the neck. The Pope always wears the stole. Bishop and priests wear it at Mass – the priest crossed over his breast; the bishop, who has already the pectoral cross on his breast, pendant on each side. They also wear it whenever they exercise their orders by administering sacraments or by blessing persons or things. In some places it is, in others it is not, worn in preaching, and the custom of the place is to be followed. Deacons wear it at Mass, or at Benediction, &c., when they have to move the Blessed Sacrament, over the left shoulder and joined on the right side.

STOLE-FEES

1432 The fees, varying in different countries, which it is customary among the laity to pay to a priest at the time of his discharging any customary function for their benefit – e.g. in marriages, christenings, and funerals.

SUICIDE

1435 Those who voluntarily, and while in the full possession of their faculties put an end to themselves, are deprived of ecclesiastical burial. But in such cases the canon law inclines to a lenient judgment; and if a person be found, for instance, drowned or poisoned, end it be not proved that he had expressed the deliberate intention of taking his own life, the law prefers to presume some other cause of death, such as the act of a malefactor, or accident, or temporary aberration of mind.

1436 In many countries the civil law now requires that persons who have committed suicide, even though the willfulness of the act and their sanity at the time be established, shall be buried in the churchyards. In such a case the ministers of the Church take no part in the funeral obsequies.

SULPICIANS

1438 A society of priests who devote themselves to the care of theological seminaries. They derive their name from the seminary of S. Sulpice in Paris, where they were established by their founder, M. Olier, in 1642.

SUPREMACY

1441 By this is meant the doctrine that the chief authority has the power to ordain and judge in the last resort without appeal in all causes and over all persons, ecclesiastical as well as civil.

SURPLICE

1444 A garment of white linen worn over the cassock in choir and in the administration of the sacraments. It is among the most familiar, and at the same time is one of the most modern of church vestments.

SUSPENSION

1447 A prohibition by which a cleric is forbidden to exercise his orders or his clerical office, or to administer and enjoy the fruits of his benefice.

SYLLABUS

1450 The Syllabus was a digest or table of the errors condemned on various occasions by Pius IX, drawn up and circulated by his orders.

SYNODAL EXAMINERS

1453 A committee of learned ecclesiastics, appointed in the diocesan synod, numbering not less than six, and (as a rule) not more than twenty members, whose duty it is to ascertain and test the qualifications of candidates for benefices or other Church preferment. They hold office only from one diocesan synod to another. If the committee be reduced below six in the interval between two synods, the bishop makes provisional appointments so as to complete the prescribed number.

SYNODALS

1456 A small payment in the nature of a "cathedraticum," due from the incumbents of benefices to the bishop.

Section T: Te Deum to Type

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - T

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TE DEUM

1465 A hymn in the form of a psalm, recited at the end of Matins on all feasts except Holy Innocents, and on all Sundays except during penitential seasons.

TEMPERANCE

1468 Temperance is equivalent to restraint or moderation; but it is commonly used for moderation in certain strong appetites which are concerned with the preservation of the individual or of the race, such as eating, drinking, and generation. Modesty, chastity, sobriety, and similar virtues come under the head of temperance.

1469 Among us, the word temperance is still further restricted to mean moderation in the use of intoxicants, and sometimes, but incorrectly, it is taken to mean total abstinence from these. The Catholic Church teaches that the use of wine is, in itself, perfectly lawful. At the same time, the Church holds that drunkenness is a mortal sin. Hence, all her children are bound at least to be temperate.

TEMPORAL POWER

1471 Temporal power was formerly exercised by the Pope as king of the states of the Church. The Popes have not ceased to declare, that the preservation of their temporal independence is necessary, as human affairs are constituted, to the free and full exercise of their spiritual authority.

THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES

1474 Faith, Hope, and Charity are called the theological virtues, because they relate immediately to God. The moral or cardinal virtues are concerned with our duties, and so relate to Him indirectly; but the theological virtues have Him for their immediate object – it is God in whom we believe and hope and whom we love. These virtues are supernatural because they are beyond the reach of man's natural powers, and because they enable him to attain a supernatural end.

THURIBLES

1477 A vessel as old as the use of incense in the Church, in which the incense is carried.

TIARA

1480 A head-dress surrounded with three crowns, which the Pope wears as a symbol of sovereignty.

TITHES

1483 Tithes are the tenth part of all fruits and profits justly squired, owed to God in recognition of His supreme dominion over man, and to be paid to the ministers of the Church.

TONSURE

1486 The shaving of the crown in a circle, which is a distinguishing mark of clerics. Among some of the monastic orders and friars the tonsure leaves only a circle of hair round the head; the tonsure of secular clerks, on the other hand, is small.

TRADITION

1489 Properly the act of handing down. Christ left His Church with no written books, and with nothing but tradition to guide it. St. Paul insists on the necessity of holding to the Christian tradition.

TRANSEPT

1492 In architecture the part of the church which forms the short arms of the cross on which the plan is laid. It extends on the north and south side of the area between the nave and the choir.

TRAPPISTS

1495 A branch of the Cistercian order. The founder Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé, born in 1626, was of a noble family, He was ordained priest in 1651. In 1660 he resigned all his benefices except the abbacy of La Trappe, and told the monks that they would thenceforth have to live by the rule of what was called the "Strict Observance" of the Cistercian order. La Trappe was an ancient monastery lying in the heart of La Perche, not far from Séez, founded as a Cistercian house in 1140 by Rotrou, count of Perche. The final result was the discipline of La Trappe. They are not free to choose the kind of work which they like best. The abbot himself works and often takes up the most abject sort of employment. Their indoor employments, when the weather does not allow of outdoor labor, include carpentry, joinery, copying, binding, sweeping, and many other useful toils.

1496 Probably the most trying part of all the discipline is the silence, no monk being allowed to speak to his brother on any occasion. The abbot and the guest-master are the only persons in the convent who are permitted to speak to strangers.

TRENT, COUNCIL OF

1498 The general councils of the fifteenth century succeeded on the whole in one of the principal objects for which they were convened, that of restoring or maintaining the units of Christendom. At Constance the great schism was closed; at Basle the difficulty with the Hussites was arranged; at Ferrara-Florence East and West were momentarily reunited. Hence it was natural, that when religious dimension and disturbance broke out in the sixteenth century, a general council should be confidently looked to aa the remedy. And yet, as Pallavicini remarks, the remembrance that the Nicene Council did not put down Arianism, nor that of Chalcedon Eutychianism, with other like instances, might have served to moderate expectation and check disappointment, if it should prove that the great Ecumenical Council of the sixteenth century, though inferior in no respect to any, even the very greatest of its predecessors, nevertheless, far from suppressing Protestantism, ushered in a long period of strife between Catholics and the various heterodox bodies in every land – a strife of which the end appears to be still distant.

TRINITY,HOLY

1501 The mystery of the Trinity consists in this, that God, being numerically and individually one, exists in three Persons, or, in other words, that the Divine essence, which is one and the same in the strictest and most absolute sense, exists in three Persons, really distinct from each other, and yet each really identical with the same Divine essence. The Father is unbegotten, the Son begotten, the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and Son. Each Person is really distinct from the other, each is the true, eternal God, and yet there is only one God. We can understand how three individual men are distinct from each other and yet possess humanity in common. The unity of the three Divine Persons is altogether different. When we speak of them as one God, we mean not only that each is God, but that each is one and the same God, and herein is the mystery, incomprehensible to any created intelligence.

TUNIC

1504 A vestment proper to subdeacons, who are clothed in it by the bishop at ordination, and like the dalmatic. Even this distinction is not, so far as we know, generally observed. It is also worn by bishops under the dalmatic when they pontificate.

TWELFTH DAY

1507 Another name for the Epiphany, it being the twelfth day after Christmas.

TYPE

1510 Types are persons, things, actions, and events of the Old Testament ordained by God to foreshadow the future. The existence of types is expressly set forth in both the Old and the New Testament. The term "type," which originally means model, form, or figure, is taken from the New Testament. St. Paul says that the first Adam was "a figure of Him that was to come," inasmuch as his carnal paternity is an image of the spiritual paternity of Christ.

Section U: Ursulines to Usury

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - U

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URSULINES

1519 This teaching order was founded by St. Angela Merici, of Brescia, in 1537. The object of their institution is to nurse the sick, teach young girls, and sanctify their own lives. It was known as the Congregation of St. Ursula. A bull of Paul III (1544) confirmed the title.

USURY

1522 Usury, in its wider signification, means all gain made by lending. This is a sense which usury often has in the classics, and so understood usury occurs whenever a man lends capital at interest. Now, however, usury signifies unjust gain on a loan, unjust because not justified by the loss, risk, &c., of the lender or the advantage to the borrower, or because the amount of gain is exorbitant.

1523 It became more and more evident that commerce could not exist without a rate of interest, and reflection showed many just grounds on which a moderate rate could be exacted. Such are the risk to the lender, the loss to which he is put by the want of capital with which he might trade and the fruit which the money yields. It was long, however, before opinion adapted itself to new circumstances.

Section V: Vatican Council to Vulgate

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Catholic Pocket Dictionary - V

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VATICAN COUNCIL

1531 This council met on December 8, 1869, and is not yet concluded.

VEIL

1534 Three Eucharist veils were in use in the ancient Church, the paten veil for covering the bread before consecration, the chalice veil, and a very thin transparent veil for covering both paten and chalice. The offertory veil was used, according to the various parts of the ceremonial of High Maas. It seems to be the same as the benediction veil with which the subdeacon now covers the chalice at High Mass and which is also used at the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

1535 The nuptial veil is worn by brides in the marriage ceremony. St. Ambrose speaks of a veil stretched over the heads of the bride and bridegroom during the celebration of marriage, with a mystical significance.

VESTMENTS

1537 Long before the ecclesiastical vestments were distinguished by their form from those in common we certain garments were reserved for the officiating clergy, though they were identical, in form with the ordinary garb.

VIATICUM

1540 Holy Communion given to those in danger of death.

VICAR-APOSTOLIC

1543 By this is meant either a bishop or archbishop, to whom the Roman Pontiff delegates a portion of his jurisdiction; or an ecclesiastic, not necessarily a bishop, who, acting under a Papal brief, or in virtue of instructions received from the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, is commissioned to exercise the episcopal jurisdiction (except in certain special cases) in a diocese where the ordinary, from whatever cause, is incapacitated from its full and efficient discharge.

VICAR-GENERAL

1546 Is an ecclesiastic appointed by the bishop of the diocese to assist him in matters of administration. In matters of jurisdiction the vicar general is regarded as the ordinary, and his tribunal is identical with that of the bishop, so that there is no appeal from the one to the other. But he is bound to keep carefully within the limits of his commission; thus he may not do any of those things which come under the definition of "Pontificalia" and belong to the episcopal order, such as making the holy oils, consecrating churches, altars, chalices, &c. Nor may he decide anything without a special mandate, which it may be reasonably presumed the bishop could not have intended to entrust to him by his general commission. For instance, although his commission warrants him to do all formal acts required in the institution of ecclesiastics to benefices, offices, or dignities, it does not authorize him to confer any of these; to do so lawfully he must have a special mandate. He cannot summon a synod, nor visit the diocese; "and generally, in business of an arduous and weighty nature, he cannot act without consulting the bishop." The powers of a vicar-general cease when his commission is cancelled by the bishop; upon his resignation; when, from whatever cause, the bishop's own jurisdiction in the diocese ceases.

VIGILS

1549 The watch kept on the night before a feast.

VINCENT OF PAUL, ST., SOCIETY OF

1552 This society, which exists for the purpose of helping the poor, was founded at Paris in 1833.

VIRTUE

1555 A good quality of the mind whereby a man lives rightly and which no one uses wrongly, which God works in us without our aid.

VISITATIO AD LIMINA APOSTOLORUM

1558 That it was a duty incumbent on a Catholic bishop to visit from time to time the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul at Rome, in order to honor the institution of Christ in the person of his vicar, to strengthen his own communion and that of his flock with the living center of Christianity, and to report the state of his diocese to the Supreme Pastor and Ruler, was a conviction which had been growing in force for centuries, and had found continuous practical expression in those innumerable visits of bishops to Rome which the annals of the Church record. Leo III (Ep. i.) ordained that bishops should visit the limina Apostolorum, but without prescribing anything as to the time. In the sixteenth century the practice assumed the form of a positive law. Sixtus V by the Constitution "Romanus Pontifex" (1585) ordained that the bishops of Italy, the islands in the Adriatic, and the neighboring parts of Greece, should be bound to visit the limina Apostolorum once in three years; the bishops of France, Spain, England, Germany, and other countries within the North and Baltic Seas, as also of the islands in the Mediterranean, once in four years; all other bishops in Europe and those of Africa once in five years; and all Asiatic and American bishop, once in ten years. The visit was to be made either in person, or, if a legitimate hindrance intervened, by a suitable proctor or representative.

VISITATION, EPISCOPAL

1561 To visit his diocese, and ascertain the state and progress of religion in every part of it, is of course one of the main portions of that duty which belongs to the bishop's office. The aim of such visitation is described as comprehending the maintenance of sound doctrine, the expulsion of heresy, the reformation of morals, the right arrangement of whatever relates both to persons and things ecclesiastical, and the encouragement of the faithful, by preaching and other means, to lead religious and peaceful lives.

VISITATION, ORDER OF THE

1564 This order was founded at Annecy in 1610 by the holy widow Jane Frances, Mme. de Chantal (who was canonized in 1767), under the direction of St. Francis de Sales, then bishop of Geneva. It was designed by the bishop to be open to widows and ladies of weak health as well as to the young and robust; hence but few corporal austerities were required by the rule, and at first there was no enclosure, so that the religious could freely visit the sick and needy in their own homes. On the other hand, the employment of time and the regulation of the thoughts were provided for in the rule with great minuteness. St. Francis did not wish the religious to be exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishops, and therefore he would not consent to the appointment of a superior for the whole order. The rule of enclosure was adopted in 1618. Many houses of "Visitandines" – so these nuns are called in France – soon arose, and have ever been conspicuous for the order, harmony, and piety which reigned in them. Ven. Marie Marguerite d'Alacoque, so well known in connection with the devotion to the Sacred Heart, belonged to this order.

VISIT TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

1567 The daily visit to a church in order to engage in silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

VOCATION

1570 Vocation is taken for that "disposition of Divine providence" whereby persons are invited to serve God in some special state – e.g. as ecclesiastics or religious. The ecclesiastical vocation is manifested by the pious desires of the heart, by innocence of life, by the sincere love of Christ, by pure zeal for God's glory and the salvation of souls. That to the religious state, or the perfect practice of the evangelical counsels, comes to souls with a certain pressing invitation, with a strong desire of self-sacrifice and a clear perception of worldly vanity, with a certain attractiveness for intimacy with Christ and for the exaltation of His holy Name. But it is given differently to different persons, and prepares them "powerfully" though "sweetly" for the practice of solid virtue. "If thou wouldst be perfect," said our Lord, "go sell what thou hast and give to the poor, . . . and come, follow Me."

VOWS

1573 A vow is a deliberate promise made to God in regard to something possessing superior goodness.

VULGATE

1576 The name is now commonly given to the Latin version of the Bible, authorized by the Catholic Church. In this version all the books found in the Hebrew Bible were translated by Jerome from the Hebrew and Chaldee originals, except the Psalter, which belongs to an Old Latin version revised by Jerome. Judith and Tobias were freely translated by Jerome from the Chaldee (this Chaldee, however, being merely the version of Hebrew originals now lost; see Neubauer, "Book of Tobias," p. xvi.). In the rest of the Old Testament books, and in the deuterocanonical portions of Esther and Daniel, we have the Old Latin translation unaltered; the New Testament consists of the Old Latin text revised by Jerome from the Greek.

Section W: Washing of Hands to Witchcraft

1579 (Texto do capítulo)

Catholic Pocket Dictionary - W

1582 (Texto do capítulo)

WASHING OF HANDS BEFORE AND AFTER MASS

1585 A rubric of the Roman Missal directs the celebrating priest to wash his hands in the sacristy before he puts on his vestments.

WHIT-SUNDAY

1588 The common English name for Pentecost.

WITCHCRAFT

1591 Witchcraft is the art of doing things wonderful, and apparently supernatural, without the intervention of God. Perhaps a more exact definition would be a power, real or supposed, of producing, in concert with an evil spirit, effects beyond the reach of natural means and operations.

1592 Those who deny the existence of evil spirits, and maintain that all the of demoniacal possession mentioned in the Bible and recorded elsewhere are merely of disease, are of course still less inclined to admit the reality of witchcraft. Imagination, morbid fancy, terror of the unknown, private spite, knavery, credulity, and hallucination, sufficiently account, in their eyes, for all of which witches have ever been accused, or have accused themselves. The former opinion – namely that any commerce between human beings and evil spirits is imaginary and impossible – is repugnant to Scripture and the implicit teaching of the Church, and cannot be held by Catholics. But it does not follow that because we believe that obsession is a fact, and that human beings can and do come under the influence of evil spirits, we should therefore admit the reality of any such leagues or compacts with the devil as the records of witchcraft assume.

Section X-Y-Z: Xaverian Brothers to Zeal

1594 (Texto do capítulo)

Catholic Pocket Dictionary - XYZ

1597 (Texto do capítulo)

XAVERIAN BROTHERS

1600 This teaching institute was commenced at Bruges in 1839, and definitely established in 1846, by Theodore James Ryken, a native of Elshout, in the Catholic province of North Brabant, Holland. His object was to "found a congregation of men who would sacrifice their lives to the Christian education of youth." The first professions were those of himself and twelve young brothers, made on October 22, 1846. Ryken took the name of Brother Francis Xavier, after the Apostle of the Indies, who was chosen patron of the congregation. Soon afterwards he opened St. Francis Xavier's College at Bruges for day scholars and boarders: this is said to have become "the most flourishing school in the city."

Appendix: One Hundred and Fifty Important Facts in Church History Explained

1603 #### One Hundred and Fifty Important Facts In Catholic Church History Explained:

1604 #### THE OLD DISPENSATION

1605 #### THE NEW DISPENSATION

1606 #### PERIODS OF CHURCH HISTORY

1607 #### IMPORTANT FACTS IN CHURCH HISTORY EXPLAINED (In the From of Questions and Answers)