…After all of these topics on the Cornerstones of the Catholic Faith, we finish with an ever-growing list of important words that Catholics should know.
The following is a list of terms as prescribed during the discussion of the Catholic faith. Some of these terms have a different meaning in common usage, others are often misunderstood or misused in discussions of the faith:
Accident: In metaphysics and philosophy, is a property that the entity or substance has contingently, without which the substance can still retain its identity. An accident does not affect its essence. This usage of the word “accident” is used extensively in discussions about the Eucharist.
Adoration: Any prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament whether in front of a closed Tabernacle or in front of the exposed host in a monstrance. Literally means “to the mouth” and is often used as another word for “worship”.
Alms: Money or food given to the poor.
Amen: So be it.
Apocalypse: Meaning “an unveiling” the term is generally used to refer to some immanent catastrophe, but in a Biblical sense refers to a holy disclosure of information or knowledge, usually through some sort of prophetic dream or vision.
Apostle: One who is “Sent Out” to spread a religious message.
Apostolic Succession: An unbroken chain of priestly authority, beginning with Jesus appointing his disciples through the right of “laying on of hands.”
Archbishop: Title for Bishops that govern archdioceses.
Archdiocese: An archdiocese, from the Greek suffix indicating “head” or “ruler,” is a diocese that includes a larger city or an area with a large Catholic population.
Ascension: The transmutation of human individuals directly into heaven.
Bishop: A high-ranking cleric, appointed by the pope usually after serving many years as a priest.
Bull: A statement of doctrine or moral instruction issued by a pope to all Catholics.
Brother: A term of reference or address for a lay member of a co-resident Catholic religious order.
Canon: Greek for rule, norm, standard, or measure, it is used in several ways in the church language. (1) The canon of Sacred Scripture is the list of books recognized by the church as inspired by the Holy Spirit. (2) Before the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the single eucharistic prayer used universally in the Latin Mass was called the Roman Canon.
Catechism: A popular summary or compendium of Catholic doctrine about faith and morals designed for use in catechists.
Catechist: A person, usually a lay person, trained to teach the doctrines and practices of the church to children or new converts.
Cardinal: The bishop of a particularly important diocese, and a direct adviser to the pope.
Catholic: One of the four marks or notes of the Church, taken from the Nicene Creed. The Church is catholic or universal both because she possesses the fullness of Christ’s presence and the means of salvation, and because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race.
Charisma: A divine gift, such as the ability to perform miracles, received from the Holy Spirit.
Church: The name is given to the “convocation” or “assembly” of the People God has called together from “the ends of the earth.” In Christian usage, the word “Church” has three inseparable meanings: the People that God gathers in the whole world; the particular or local Church diocese; and the liturgical assembly. The Church draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ, and so she becomes Christ’s body. In the Creed, the sole Church of Christ is professed to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.
Clergy: People who have been initiated into the ecclesiastical state by the conferral of membership in holy Orders through a ritual of ordination that empowers them in the ministry of the sacraments.
Conclave: The gathering of the world’s Catholic cardinals, after the death of a pope, to elect a new pope. Only cardinals under the age of 80 are allowed into a conclave under current church rules.
Consubstantiation: The addition of the bread and wine offered during the eucharist of the body and blood of Christ. Catholic doctrine asserts that, despite appearances, the change in the bread and wine is physical (transubstantial). Reformation theology argues that the body and blood of Christ come to be present in the bread and wine, but that the bread and wine are also present (consubstantial).
Cult: The beliefs and practices associated with the veneration of a particular saint or supernatural being.
Deacon: In the Catholic Church, the diaconate is the first of three ranks in ordained ministry. Deacons preparing for the priesthood are transitional deacons. Those not planning to be ordained priests are called permanent deacons. Married men may be ordained permanent deacons, but only unmarried men committed to lifelong celibacy can be ordained deacons if they are planning to become priests.
Diocese: A particular church; the ordinary territorial division of the church headed by a bishop. The chief diocese of a group of dioceses is called an archdiocese.
Disciple: A follower or student of a teacher.
Discernment: The process by which we discover God’s will for us.
Doctrine: A teaching of the Church.
Dogma: A teaching of the Church which must be accepted as a condition of good standing in the Church.
Ecclesiastical: Relating to the Church or its clergy.
Ecumenical: Having the goal of greater cooperation and unity among all the branches of Christianity.
Encyclical: A formal statement issued by the pope to bishops, often on matters of doctrine.
Episcopal: Refers to a bishop or groups of bishops, or to the form of church governance in which ordained bishops have authority.
Epistle: From the Greek word meaning “letter,” This word refers to the 21 books in the New Testament that were written as letters to instruct and encourage the members of the early Church.
Eucharist: The ritual, sacramental action of thanksgiving to God which constitutes the principal Christian liturgical celebration of and communion in the paschal mystery of Christ. The liturgical action called the Eucharist is also traditionally known as the holy sacrifice of the Mass. It is one of the seven sacraments of the Church; the Holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. The Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is at the heart of the Church’s life.
Evangelist: One of the four authors to whom is ascribed the writing of the Gospels, i.e., Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The term is also used for one who works actively to spread and promote the Christian faith.
Exegesis: Explanation or interpretation, especially of scriptural texts.
Father: A term of reference or address for a Catholic priest.
Gospels: The “good news” of God’s mercy and love revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It is this Gospel or good news that the Apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the entire world. The Gospel is handed on in the apostolic tradition of the Church as the source of all-saving truth and moral discipline. The four Gospels are the books written by the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John which have for their central object Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate Son: his life, teachings, Passion, and glorification, and his Church’s beginnings under the Spirit’s guidance.
Hierarchy: In Catholic usage, the term is used most commonly to refer collectively to the bishops of the world or a particular region. In technical uses, however, it may refer to all those who are ordained: deacons and priests as well as bishops. In the canon law of the Eastern Catholic Churches, hierarchs is a term regularly used to describe the bishops of a church when describing their collective authority or function.
Heresy: The obstinate denial after Baptism of a truth that must be believed with divine and Catholic faith.
Hermeneutic: The theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts.
Laity: Church members who are not members of the clergy.
Liturgy: The general term for all the church’s official acts of worship. It includes the Mass (also called the Eucharistic liturgy), the celebration of the other sacraments, and the Liturgy of the Hours, which contains the official prayers recited by priests and some others to sanctify parts of the day.
Mass: The Eucharist or principal sacramental celebration of the Church, established by Jesus at the Last Supper, in which the mystery of our salvation through participation in the sacrificial death and glorious resurrection of Christ is renewed and accomplished. The Mass renews the paschal sacrifice of Christ as the sacrifice offered by the Church. It is called “Mass” (from the Latin missa) because of the “mission” or “sending” with which the liturgical celebration concludes (Latin: “Ite, Missa est.”).
Ministry: A broad term in Catholic usage for any activity conducive to the salvation of souls. It can include ordained ministries such as liturgical leadership and administration of the sacraments, or lay ministries such as instructing children in the faith, serving the poor, visiting the sick, or being an altar server, reader, or music leader at Mass.
Missal: A book containing the texts used in Catholic Mass throughout the year.
Mystical Body: A mystical union of all Christians into a spiritual body with Jesus Christ as their head.
Ordinary: A diocesan bishop or his equivalent, his vicar general and episcopal vicar, or a major superior of a clerical religious order, congregation, or society. It refers to someone with ordinary authority in church law over a group of clergy, over certain pastoral concerns in a specific geographical area, or over the members of a religious order.
Orthodox: Mainline, following established teachings.
Paschal / Paschal Mystery: Christ’s work of redemption was accomplished principally by his Passion, death, Resurrection, and glorious Ascension, whereby “dying he destroyed our death, rising he restored our life.”
Pastor: A priest in charge of a Catholic parish or congregation. He is responsible for administering the sacraments, instructing the congregation in the doctrine of the church, and providing other services to the people of the parish.
Recapitulation: Refers both to the headship of Christ over His body, the Church and to the unity of all things, the whole cosmos, under Christ.
Reconciliation: The sacramental celebration in which, through God’s mercy and forgiveness, the sinner is reconciled with God and also with the Church, Christ’s Body, which is wounded by sin.
Repent: The Greek term for repentance, metanoia, denotes a change of mind, a reorientation, a fundamental transformation of outlook, of man’s vision of the world and of himself, and a new way of loving others and God.
Revelation: God’s communication of himself, by which he makes known the mystery of his divine plan, a gift of self-communication which is realized by deeds and words over time, and most fully by sending us his own divine Son, Jesus Christ.
Sacramentals: Sacred signs instituted by the Church to prepare us to receive the fruit of the sacraments and to sanctify different circumstances of our lives.
Sacraments: Catholics, like Orthodox Christians, believe that there are seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance, matrimony, holy orders, and the anointing of the sick. The first three are also called the sacraments of Christian initiation, and in the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox traditions they are administered together in infancy. In the Latin rite Church baptism is administered to infants, but the first reception of the Eucharist (First Communion) and confirmation are typically delayed until the child has reached the use of reason, generally regarded as about the age of seven. Eastern Catholics and Orthodox usually refer to confirmation as chrismation. Penance is also called the sacrament of reconciliation. The anointing of the sick used to be called extreme unction when it was only given to those gravely ill or in danger of death. Now it can be administered to anyone who is seriously or chronically ill.
Schism: Division, especially between contending factions.
Scruples: the spiritual and psychological state of a person who erroneously believes he is guilty of mortal sin and is therefore seldom in a state of grace.
See: Another name for a diocese or archdiocese. It appears in such phrases as Holy See, titular see, metropolitan see, suffragan see, see city. The see city is that city after which the diocese or archdiocese is named.
Sister: A term of reference or address for a Catholic nun.
Synoptic Gospels: Seeing with one lens. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all give a common view of Jesus and they are called the Synoptic Gospels.
Tithe / Tithing: Giving a portion (10%) of your income given as an offering to your local church.
Transubstantiation: The scholastic term used to designate the unique change of the Eucharistic bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. “Transubstantiation” indicates that through the consecration of the bread and the wine there occurs the change of the entire substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ, and of the entire substance of the wine into the Blood of Christ even though the appearances or “species” of bread and wine remain.
Triduum: The word “triduum” comes from the Latin word triduum, which comes from tris (“three”) + dies (“day”). Basically, the Sacred Triduum is one great festival recounting the last three days of Jesus’ life on earth, the events of His Passion and Resurrection, when the Lamb of God laid down his life in atonement for our sins.
Vespers: Also called evening prayer, vespers is part of the Liturgy of the Hours, the series of psalms, prayers and readings for different parts of the day that Catholic priests and deacons are obligated to pray daily. Often a new bishop will present his letter of appointment to the priests of the diocese during a vespers service at the cathedral.
Next up… use the menu at the top to continue learning about Catholicism with the next section called “Catholic Worship”.
End of “The Cornerstones of the Catholic Faith Topics”
Suggested Reading
“Catholic Dictionary: An Abridged and Updated Edition of Modern Catholic Dictionary” by John Hardon
“Bible in Translation” by Bruce M Metzger
Top Image
In the thirteenth century, Saint Thomas served as a Catholic priest in Italy. He was raised in a noble family and enrolled at the renowned Benedictine Abbey at Monte Cassino, close to Rome when he was five years old. He was expected to grow up to become the Abbot at Monte Cassino, a very important position that would further enhance his noble family’s heritage.