Glossary of terms found in Catholic Christianity.
There are 399 entries in this glossary.All
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Abortion |
Deliberate termination of pregnancy by killing the unborn child. Such direct abortion, willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life (2271-2272). |
| Abraham |
The man of faith and patriarch of Israel with whom God made a covenant which promised him land in which to live and many descendants, a great people for whom the Lord would be their God. Through Abraham God formed the people to whom he would later give the law by revelation to Moses. With the advent of Christ, the people of Israel would serve as the root to which the Gentiles would be grafted by their coming to believe (59, 72, 145, 705, 762, 2570). |
| Absolution |
An essential element of the Sacrament of Penance in which the priest, by the power entrusted to the Church by Christ, pardons the sin(s) of the penitent (1424, 1442, 1449, 1453, 1480). |
| Acedia |
A less common synonym for sloth, one of the seven "capital" sins (1866). See Sloth. |
| Acolyte |
A liturgical minister appointed to assist at liturgical celebrations. Priests and deacons receive this ministry before they are ordained. Lay men may be installed permanently in the ministry of acolyte through a rite of institution and blessing (903, 1672). |
| Adam |
According to the creation story in Genesis, the first man. From this story the Church has learned that humanity was originally created in a state of holiness and justice and that the first ancestors of the human race lost this state for themselves and all humanity by their sin ("original sin"). Christ is called the "second" or "new Adam" because he ushered in the new creation by forgiving sin and restoring humanity to the grace of God's friendship lost by original sin (359, 375, 388, 390, 402-404, 504; cf. 635, 655). |
| Adoration |
The acknowledgment of God as God, Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists. Through worship and prayer, the Church and individual persons give to God the adoration which is the first act of the virtue of religion. The first commandment of the law obliges us to adore God (2096, 2628; cf. 1083). |
| Adultery |
Marital infidelity, or sexual relations between two partners, at least one of whom is married to another party. The sixth commandment and the New Testament forbid adultery absolutely (2380; cf. 1650). |
| Advent |
The liturgical season of four weeks devoted to preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas (524). |
| Almsgiving |
Money or goods given to the poor as an act of penance or fraternal charity. Almsgiving, together with prayer and fasting, are traditionally recommended to foster the state of interior penance (1434; cf. 1969, 2447). |
| Altar |
The center and focal point of a church, where the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is made present under sacramental signs in the Mass. Among the Israelites the altar was the place where sacrifices were offered to God. The Christian altar represents two aspects of the mystery of the Eucharist, as the altar of sacrifice where Christ as the sacrificial victim offers himself for our sins and as the table of the Lord where Christ gives himself to us as food from heaven (1182, 1383). |
| Amen |
A Hebrew word meaning "truly; it is so; let it be done," signifying agreement with what has been said. The prayers of the New Testament and of the Church's liturgy, and the Creeds, conclude with "amen." Jesus used the word to introduce solemn assertions, to emphasize their trustworthiness and authority (1061, 1345, 1396, 2856, 2865). |
| Analogy Of Faith |
The coherence of the truths of the faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation (114). |
| Anamnesis |
The "remembrance" of God's saving deeds in history in the liturgical action of the Church, which inspires thanksgiving and praise (1103). Every Eucharistic Prayer contains an anamnesis or memorial in which the Church calls to mind the Passion, Resurrection, and glorious return of Christ Jesus (1354, 1362). |
| Anaphora |
The Eucharistic Prayer--the prayer of thanksgiving and consecration--which is the heart and summit of the celebration of the Mass (1352). |