| Magi | The wise men who came from the East to pay homage to the newborn Savior (528). |
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| Magisterium | The living, teaching office of the Church, whose task it is to give as authentic interpretation of the word of God, whether in its written form (Sacred Scripture), or in the form of Tradition. The Magisterium ensures the Church's fidelity to the teaching of the Apostles in matters of faith and morals (85, 890, 2033). |
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| Marks (Notes) Of The Church | The four attributes (marks or notes) of the Church mentioned in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed: ""We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church"" (811). |
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| Marriage | A covenant or partnership of life between a man and woman, which is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children. When validly contracted between two baptized people, marriage is a sacrament (Matrimony) (1601). |
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| Martyr | A witness to the truth of the faith, in which the martyr endures even death to be faithful to Christ. Those who die for the faith before having received Baptism are said to have received a ""baptism of blood,"" by which their sins are forgiven and they share in the death and Resurrection of Christ (1258, 2473). |
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| 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."") (1332; cf. 1088, 1382, 2192). See Eucharist; Paschal Mystery/Sacrifice. |
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| Matrimony | The Roman, Orthodox and Old Catholic churches consider matrimony a sacrament and refer to it as the Sacrament of Matrimony. This is a marriage contract between baptized persons. |
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| Mediator/Mediatrix | One who links or reconciles separate or opposing parties. Thus Jesus Christ is the ""one mediator between God and the human race"" (1 Tm 2:5). Through his sacrificial offering he has become high priest and unique mediator who has gained for us access to God's saving grace for humanity. Moreover, Mary too is sometimes called Mediatrix in virtue of her cooperation in the saving mission of Christ, who alone is the unique mediator between God and humanity (618, 1544; cf. 970). |
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| Meditation | An exercise and a form of prayer in which we try to understand God's revelation of the truths of faith and the purpose of the Christian life, and how it should be lived, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking (2705). |
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| Mercy | The loving kindness, compassion, or forbearance shown to one who offends (e.g., the mercy of God to us sinners) (1422, 1829). See Works of Mercy. |
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| Merit | The reward which God promises and gives to those who love him and by his grace perform good works. One cannot ""merit"" justification or eternal life, which are the free gift of God; the source of any merit we have before God is due to the grace of Christ in us (2006). |
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| Messiah | A Hebrew word meaning ""anointed"" (436). See Christ; Jesus Christ. |
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| Metropolitan | The archbishop of an archdiocese in a province. He has limited supervisory powers and influence over the other dioceses and bishops in the province. |
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| Military Ordinariate (Archdiocese for th | Nonterritorial diocese for U.S. Catholics and their dependents who are in the military or affiliated with the armed forces. |
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| Minister | From the Latin word for Ïservant,Ó in the ecclesiastical sense a minister is (1) an ordained cleric or (2) one who has the authority to minister to others. |
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| Ministry | The service or work of sanctification performed by the preaching of the word and the celebration of the sacraments by those in Holy Orders (893, 1536), or in determined circumstances, by laity (903). The New Testament speaks of a variety of ministries in the Church; Christ himself is the source of ministry in the Church (873-874). Bishops, priests, and deacons are ordained ministers in the Church (1548). |
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| Miracle | A sign or wonder, such as a healing or the control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine power. The miracles of Jesus were messianic signs of the presence of God's kingdom (547). |
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| Miracles, Apparitions | Generally ÏmiracleÓ is used to refer to physical phenomena that defy natural explanation, such as medically unexplainable cures. An apparition is a supernatural manifestation of God, an angel or a saint to an individual or a group of individuals. |
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| Mission | (1) Trinitarian missions: To accomplish the divine plan of the triune God for the redemption of humanity, the Son and the Holy Spirit were ""sent"" into the world: hence the Trinitarian ""missions"" (Latin missus means ""sent"") (257, 689). (2) Apostolic mission: Just as he was sent by the Father, Jesus sent his Apostles into the world to continue his own saving mission (858). (3) Church as mission: Thus the Church is missionary by its very nature, continuing the mission or work of Christ through the Holy Spirit, according to the plan of God. This apostolic mission of the Church is fulfilled according to their different states of life by the clergy, laity, and religious (849, 863, 913). Missionary activity is sometimes given in a more specific sense as the work of initial evangelization and establishment of the Church in non-Christian lands. |
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| Miter (MY-ter) | a headdress worn at solemn liturgical functions by bishops, abbots and, in certain cases, other clerics. |
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| Monastery | An autonomous community house of a religious order, which may or may not be a monastic order. The term is used more specifically to refer to a community house of men or women religious in which they lead a contemplative life separate from the world. |
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| Monastic Life | Consecrated life marked by the public profession of religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and by a stable community life (in a monastery) with the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours in choir (cf. 927). |
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| Monk | a member of a monastic community such as Benedictine, Cathusian, Trappist, etc. Monks tend to live lives more separate from society to pursue, under a formal rule, a life of prayer and work for God's glory, for personal sanctification, and for the good of the Church and world. Monastic communities may have some outside works connected with them, such as a college or retreat house, but their primary ministry is prayer, especially the Liturgy of the Hours. |
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| Monk - Friar | A man who belongs to one of the monastic orders in the Church, such as Basilians, Benedictines, Cistercians and Carthusians. |
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| Monsignor | An honorary ecclesiastical title granted by the Pope to some diocesan priests. In the United States, the title is given to the vicar general of a diocese. In Europe, the title also is given to bishops. |
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Catholic Glossary 
