b-Abba - P 32 - A simple catechism
P 1, P 24 : BIBLE
The Old and the New Testament
A part of the divine law was consigned in Books by writers inspired by God. These books are called Holy Scripture, Holy Books or Holy Bible.
We call books of the Old Testament those who were written before the coming of Jesus Christ ad books of the New Testament those who were written after his coming.
The word “Testament” wants to say Pact made by God with the men.
The first Covenant was concluded by God, initially with Adam and Noah, then more especially with Abraham and his descent.
The new Covenant, after the coming of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour, is concluded by God with all those who receive the Baptism, who believe in him and observe the Law received by Moses. Jesus Christ came to achieve and to perfect it.
The divine Tradition is God's Word, said by God himself verbally, to his ministers, and come from them to us by a continuous succession.
Through all the words of the Holy Writing, God says only one Word, his only Verb (Jesus) in whom he says himself entirely. For that reason, the Church always venerates divine Writings as it also venerates the Body of the Lord. Church does not cease presenting at faithful the Bread of life taken on the Table of God's Word (the Bible) and the Body of the Christ (the Eucharist).
God is the Author of the Holy Writing. The divinely revealed truth is written there under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
To compose these sacred books, God chose men to whom he had appeal. They put down in writing all which was in accordance with his desire and that only.
However, the Christian faith is not a "religion of the Book". The Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God”, the incarnated and alive Word.
To understand the Bible, it is necessary, that Christ, eternal Word of alive God, “opens our minds to understand the Scripture”, by the Holy Spirit.
To discover the intention of the authors of the Bible, it is necessary to take into account conditions of their time and their culture, "literary genres", manners to feel, to speak and to tell of concerned period.
The Canon of Writings
It is the Tradition which made discern in the Church which writings must be counted in the list of the Holy Books. This list is called "Canon of Writings”. It contains for the Old Testament 46 writings and 27 for the New one:
- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, […] for the Old Testament
- 4 Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, letters of Paul, the letter with the Hebrews, those of James, Peter, John and Jude and Revelation, for the New Testament.
The Old Testament is a part of the Holy Writing. Its) books are divinely inspired and keep all their value, because the Ancient Covenant was never revoked.
Indeed, the facts, the words and the prophecies of the Old Testament prepare and announce the advent of the Christ. The Christians venerate the Old Testament as God's true Word.
Gospel is the heart of the Bible as they establish the testimony on the life and the teaching of the incarnated Word, Jesus Saviour.
In the formation of Gospel we can distinguish three steps:
- The life and the teaching of Jesus.
- The oral tradition. After the Rise of Jesus, the apostles transmit what he said and made to their auditors.
- Four written Gospels.
Biblical extract
“The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrew 4, 11-13).
P. 2 to 5: CREATION - TRINITY - LOVE - COVENANT
God is the Creator
God has never stopped existing and will still be. His name is "the Eternal" or "I am".
God made everything: the billions of galaxies and, as a dust in the infinity, the earth. God sees everything, he hears everything and knows everything.
The Trinity
God is One and Trine. The unity of God means that there is only one God and the Trinity means that in God, there are three equal and distinct Persons.
- The first Person of the Holy Trinity is the Father. He is the principle of the two other Persons.
- The second Person is the Word, Jesus, Christ, the Son of the Father. The Son is the second Person, because he is begotten, not made, of one sbstance with the Father.
- The third Person of the Holy Trinity is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third Person, because he proceeds from the Father and the Son (or from the Father by the Son).
The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God.
Each of three Persons is a God. The Trinity is only one God.
Three divine Persons are every three equals, because, having the same divine nature, they have the same power, the same wisdom and the same kindness.
The Father was not before the Son and the Holy Spirit, because three divine Persons are also eternal.
God is Love
He is good and merciful. He does only good.
The Love between the Father and Jesus is the Holy Spirit.
God shows his love in his creation so beautiful and without limit. He loves each of his creatures of the visible and invisible universe.
The man and the woman
Adam and Eve, our first parents, were created in image of God and after his likeness. They have, as us today, a body with all its faculties and a spiritual soul, which is immortal.
Thanks to their intelligence, they are invited to believe in God and to love him.
Man can always recognize God in his creation, because "the universe tells the glory of God".
At first completely blessed, Adam and Eve were once disobedient to God, under the influence of Satan (Devil) and God sent them forth from the garden of Eden. This first sin caused in the humanity the hardship of God's vision, a tendency to the evil, the suffering and the death.
But God announced immediately that there would be “a enmity between the woman and the snake”. It is the birth of Jesus Jesus foretold, the Saviour born of the Virgin Mary, the new Eve.
To be Christian
To be Christian it is to believe in the Holy Trinity and that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Saviour. It is to put Jesus Christ in the center of our life, after having met him.
We become Christian by the Baptism.
The sign of recognition of Christians is the sign of the cross of Jesus.
The Christian begins his day, his prayers, and his activities with the Sign of the Cross: "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." The sign of the cross strengthens us in temptations and difficulties.
The Sign of the Cross shows three great mysteries of the Christian faith:
- In the trinity of the persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), the unity of one God.
- The incarnation of Jesus-Christ
- His passion, his death and his resurrection.
Biblical extract
“God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins […] and we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4, 7-17).
P. 6: The INCARNATION (CHRISTMAS)
Jesus was made man
The word Incarnation, means that the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, Jesus, was made man by taking a body like ours in the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the Holy Spirit.
The Son of God, by being made man, did not cease being God.
Jesus Christ, God of God, is always. As man, he began to be at the time of the Incarnation.
Jesus-Christ is true God and true man.
The Father of Jesus-Christ is our Heavenly Father. Joseph is the husband of Mary, but only the feeder father of Jesus.
Jesus is the Son of God, begotten in his divine nature by the first Person of the Holy Trinity (the Father). Jesus is the son of the Virgin Mary, because: “The Holy Spirit came upon her, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her”.
The Son of God was made man to save us.
By taking our human nature, Jesus restores it in his first innocence and deifies it.
If the Son of God had not been made man, we could not save ourselves: because, by the sin of our first parents we were the slaves of the devil and exclude for ever from the paradise.
Jesus Christ was born in a cowshed in Bethlehem. His birth is celebrated the Christmas Day.
Jesus Christ was born in the poverty to learn us that we do not find hapiness in the richness, the honours and the pleasures of this world.
Biblical extract
“The time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" […] But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2, 1-21
P. 7 AND 8: REDEMPTION: PASSION AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS (EASTER)
Passion
To save us, Jesus-Christ suffered and died on the cross.
He died like man, because, as a God, he can neither suffer nor to die.
After his death, the body of Jesus-Christ was put at the tomb.
His soul came down in the stay of the deaths to deliver the souls of every right men and women dead before him.
The body of Jesus stayed in the tomb three days: a part of Friday (the Good Friday), all Saturday long and until the dawn of Sunday which is the Sunday of Easter.
The Way of the Cross is a mean to meditate on the Jesus' sufferings. We notably practise it on Good Fridays
Resurrection
The first day of the week (Sunday), he has risen from the dead, glorious and triumphing, not to die never again (it is Easter, the principal Christian feast).
To raise wants to say that the soul of Jesus was linked again with his body.
After his resurrection, Jesus-Christ remained on this earth forty days, to confirm the disciples in the faith.
After these forty days, Jesus-Christ ascended into heaven (The ascension) and sits at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
Biblical extract
“And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; -- it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you." And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.
Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. Jesus appears to Two Disciples. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them […]
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark 16, 1-20).
P. 9 AND 10 : FOLLOW JESUS - CHURCH
Commandments
To follow Jesus it is initially necessary to practice the 10 commandments or 10 Words. God gave on the mountain of the Sinai to Moses, at the time of the first Covenant. Jesus-Christ confirmed these commandments in the new Covenant. Here:
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might”
1 - I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image […].
One must recognize, adore, love and serve God like Lord. This commandment forbids the idolatry, the superstition, the sacrilege.
2 - You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain […].
One should not pronounce the name of God without respect, to make false oaths or blaspheme against God.
3 - Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work […]
The Sabbath of the Jews or Sunday of the Christians is reserved to honour God by the rest and the prayer. Certain works are however allowed, when they are really necessary.
4 - Honor your father and your mother [...]
It is necessary to respect our father and our mother and to assist them in their spiritual and temporal needs and to be shown good and understanding when they are reached by old age.
5 - You shall not kill.
It is a great sin to give death, but also to beat somebody, to insult him, to persecute him. God forbids also the suicide, the abortion and the euthanasia. Jesus asks to forgive with our enemies and to want good with all.
6 - You shall not commit adultery
God forbids adultery. Jesus says “Every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. Are also sins: fornication, pornography, prostitution, sexual deviations, and polygamy.
7 -You shall not steal
One should not take or preserve wrongfully the good of others, nor to cause damage, for example by the fraud. It is necessary to pay the right debts, to repair the caused damage and to restore the stolen goods.
8 - You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour
It is a sin to make false testimonies or perjury. This commandment also forbids the slander, the scandalmongering, the flattery, the rash judgments and any sort of lie. It implies to say the truth.
9 - You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass.
The ninth and the tenth command warn against covetousness and the concupiscence. Covetousness is the source of many sins.
The commands of the Love
We have to love God with all our heart and over any thing and we have to love neighbour as ourselves, for God's love. Jesus adds that we also have to love our enemies and make good with all, without exception.
The Church also has its own precepts
Participate in the Mass (Holy Liturgy) every Sunday and the other great feasts as the Christmas Day; to fast some days, on Good Friday for example
We have also to make some acts of penitence during the Fast; to receive sacrament of penance and to receive the Holy Communion regularly; to participate materially in the life of the Church and to give a part of what we gain.
Practise the good and to avoid the sin
Sin is to disobey the Law of God and to miss confidence in his Love. We can sin in thoughts, in words, in actions and in omissions.
The original sin is the one with which we all are born and which comes to us by a kind of heredity of Adam and Eve, our first parents.
The sins which one commits oneself can be more or less serious.
There are seven major sins: pride, avarice, lust, envy, greediness, anger and laziness.
The mortal sin is a violation of God's law in serious matter, made with full knowledge and with full assent. The one who lost the grace of God by the mortal sin can find it by the sacrament of penanceor a perfect act of contrition.
Jesus says that only one sin cannot be forgiven: the “blasphem against the Holy Spirit”, because God cannot save anybody against his will. It consists in refusing to receive the salvation that God offers to the men and women by the Holy Spirit thanks to the sacrifice of the Cross of Jesus
The venial sin (of less gravity) does not deprive of the grace of God, but decreases the fervour of the charity. It must be repaired in this world and (or) in the other one.
Biblical extract
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing […] If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. “(John 15).
P. 11 TO 15: SACRAMENTS
A sacrament is a sensitive sign (that we perceive by the senses) established by Jesus Christ who helps to become holy (sanctifies).
There are seven sacraments: the Baptism, the Confirmation, the Eucharist, the Forgiveness, the sacrament of the patients, the Order and the Marriage.
The adults who want to become Christian are called the catechumens. They receive, after a serious preparation, three sacraments of the Christian initiation: the baptism, the confirmation and the Eucharist.
Baptism
The baptism is given to babies or to adults. By the baptism, they become a Christian.
The Christian parents baptize their child as soon as possible, because they want that he becomes a child of God and that he opens with the divine life (sanctifying grace).
Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism
The fruit of Baptism, or baptismal grace, is a rich reality that includes forgiveness of original sin and all personal sins, birth into the new life by which man becomes an adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. By this very fact the person baptized is incorporated into the Church, the Body of Christ, and made a sharer in the priesthood of Christ.
The rite of the baptism consists in immersing three times the person in the water or pouring her three times some water on the head, by saying: " I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".
Confirmation or Chrismation
This sacrament gives the plenitude of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to become true witnesses of the Christ Jesus.
The Confirmation confirms in the faith and perfects the virtues and the gifts that received in the Baptism.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are seven (this number symbolizes the multitude): wisdom, intelligence, the council, the force, science, the piety and the fear of God.
The Bishop or the priest delegated by him, spreads at first hands on the candidates for confirmation by calling on them the Holy Spirit; then he makes with the holy Chrism (holy Oil) one or several unctions in the form of cross on the body, by saying generally these words: " I mark you with the sign of the cross and confirm you with the Chrism of the salvation, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit".
In this sacrament, the oil which extends and which strengthens means the grace which spreads in the soul of Christian to confirm him in its faith. The balm which is nice-smelling and which keeps some corruption means that Christian becomes able to spread «the good smell «of the Christian virtues. This sacrament also protects the Christian against what is bad.
Eucharist
The word wants to say the Holy Mass and the Body and the Blood of the Christ.
Jesus Christ himself has established the holy Eucharist, during his last meal before dying crucified: he said: " set, eat, this is my body "and" Drink There all; because this is my blood, the blood of the alliance, which is spread for some, for the remission of sin ". Eucharist (Holy Mass or Holy Liturgy) is the permanent sacrifice of Jesus.
Word “Eucharist” wants to say Holy Mass and also Body and Blood of Christ.
It is Jesus-Christ himself which established holy Eucharist, at the time of her last meal before dying crucified: He said: “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22, 14-20).
Eucharist (holy Mass or holy Liturgy) is:
- The permanent sacrifice of the new Law or Covenant
- The food of our soul by the communion in the Body and in the Blood of Jesus
- The perpetual memorial (the memory become actual) of his passion, his death and his resurrection
- An announcement of the eternal life (the heavenly banquet at the end of time).
The sacrifice of the Mass is the updating of the sacrifice of the Cross. However, during the sacrifice of the Cross, Jesus really died there by spreading his blood. At the time of the Mass, Jesus is made victim without spreading his blood.
During the holy Mass is made the change of the substance of the bread to the Body of Jesus Christ and that of the wine to his Blood.
After the consecration, the host is the true Body of Jesus Christ under the species of the bread. In the chalice, before the consecration, there is a little wine with some water drops. After the consecration there is in the chalice the true Blood of Jesus Christ under the species of the wine.
The change of the bread to the Body and the wine to the Blood of Jesus-Christ is made when the priest asks the Father to send the Holy Spirit on the gifts and when he pronounces the words of the consecration which are the same words called by Jesus.
Eucharist keeps and increases the life of the soul; it puts back venial sins and preserves mortal sins; it produces the spiritual consolation.
The holy Eucharist is kept in churches to be adored by the faithful ones (in the Gate vault) and to be carried to the disabled person and patients according to the need.
Sacrament of Forgiveness (Penitence, Confession or Reconciliation)
The forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism is conferred by a particular sacrament called the sacrament of conversion, confession, penance, or reconciliation. The sinner wounds God's honor and love, his own human dignity as a man called to be a son of God, and the spiritual well-being of the Church, of which each Christian ought to be a living stone. To the eyes of faith no evil is graver than sin and nothing has worse consequences for sinners themselves, for the Church, and for the whole world.
The sacrament of Penance is a whole consisting in three actions of the penitent and the priest's absolution. the penitent's acts are repentance, confession or disclosure of sins to the priest, and the intention to make reparation and do works of reparation. Repentance (also called contrition) must be inspired by motives that arise from faith. If repentance arises from love of charity for God, it is called "perfect" contrition; if it is founded on other motives, it is called "imperfect."
One who desires to obtain reconciliation with God and with the Church, must confess to a priest all the unconfessed grave sins he remembers after having carefully examined his conscience. the confession of venial faults, without being necessary in itself, is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church.
The confessor proposes the performance of certain acts of "satisfaction" or "penance" to be performed by the penitent in order to repair the harm caused by sin and to re-establish habits befitting a disciple of Christ.
Only priests who have received the faculty of absolving from the authority of the Church can forgive sins in the name of Christ.
The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.
Sacrament of the sick persons
The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick has as its purpose the conferral of a special grace on the Christian experiencing the difficulties inherent in the condition of grave illness or old age. The proper time for receiving this holy anointing has certainly arrived when the believer begins to be in danger of death because of illness or old age. Each time a Christian falls seriously ill, he may receive the Anointing of the Sick, and also when, after he has received it, the illness worsens. Only priests (presbyters and bishops) can give the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, using oil blessed by the bishop, or if necessary by the celebrating presbyter himself.
The celebration of the Anointing of the Sick consists essentially in the anointing of the forehead and hands of the sick person (in the Roman Rite) or of other parts of the body (in the Eastern rite), the anointing being accompanied by the liturgical prayer of the celebrant asking for the special grace of this sacrament.
The special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has as its effects:
- the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church;
- the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age;
- the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of Penance;
- the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul;
- the preparation for passing over to eternal life. is the sacrament established for the spiritual and body relief of the patients.
Marriage
The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love, has been founded and endowed with its own special laws by the Creator. By its very nature it is ordered to the good of the couple, as well as to the generation and education of children. Christ the Lord raised marriage between the baptized to the dignity of a sacrament. The sacrament of Matrimony signifies the union of Christ and the Church. It gives spouses the grace to love each other with the love with which Christ has loved his Church; the grace of the sacrament thus perfects the human love of the spouses, strengthens their indissoluble unity, and sanctifies them on the way to eternal life.
Marriage is based on the consent of the contracting parties, that is, on their will to give themselves, each to the other, mutually and definitively, in order to live a covenant of faithful and fruitful love. Since marriage establishes the couple in a public state of life in the Church, it is fitting that its celebration be public, in the framework of a liturgical celebration, before the priest (or a witness authorized by the Church), the witnesses, and the assembly of the faithful.
Unity, indissolubility, and openness to fertility are essential to marriage. Polygamy is incompatible with the unity of marriage; divorce separates what God has joined together; the refusal of fertility turns married life away from its "supreme gift," the child.
Holy Orders
This sacrament gives the power to exercise the functions of deacon, priest or bishop. The one who receives it becomes a minister of God.
Biblical extract
“Then Philip (a deacon) opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus. And as they went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?" And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him” (Acts 8, 34-39).
P. 16: BEATITUDES - VIRTUES - WORKS OF MERCY
Beatitudes
They are the promises made by Jesus with those who behave according to the Gospel and with those who suffer for him:
- "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The poor in spirit are those who have the detached heart of the richnesses.
- "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
There will be no more tears in the paradise. Jesus will comfort all those who are in the sorrow or the suffering.
- "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
The meek ones are those which treat the neighbour with softness, suffer with patience the defects and limits from the others, without quarrel, resentment or revenge.
- "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall be satisfied.
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are those which ardently wish to grow in the life according to the Gospel and to see progressing righteousness between the men.
- "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
The merciful are those who love the neighbour and try to help it of their better, even if he does not think like them.
- "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
The pure in heart are those who reject the sin and leave it distant.
- "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.null Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5, 3-12).
Those who suffer persecution by love of the justice are those who support with patience the mockeries and the persecutions because of their faith in Jesus Christ.
The diverse rewards promised by Jesus Christ in the Beatitudes are, under various names, the glory and the eternal joy.
Those which follow the Beatitudes receive already a certain reward on this earth, because they have in them the peace of Jesus which announces the happiness of the heaven.
Those who follow the illusions of the world are not happy, because they do not have the true peace of the heart.
Virtues
There are three virtues necessary for the salvation: the Faith, the Hope and the Charity.
- To have the Faith, it is to believe in all the contents of the faith of the Church.
- To hope, it is to wish and to wait for the eternal life.
- To have the Charity in us, it is to love God chiefly and the neighbour as ourselves for God's love. At the request of Jesus, we also love our enemies, because they too are our neighbour.
Largest of the three theological virtues is Charity (Love).
The proof of Charity is the observation of the commandments of God and the exercise of works of mercy, for example:
- Give to eat to those who are hungry or to drink to those who are thirsty
- To dress those who are naked
- To give the hospitality to the travellers
- To visit the patients or the prisoners
- To bury the deaths.
Or still:
- Give councils to those who need some
- Educate the ignoramuses, notably for things concerning with the faith
- Take back those which make the evil
- Console the afflicted
- Forgive the offences
- Support patiently the unpleasant people
- Pray for the alive ones and deaths.
Biblical extract
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13, 1-13)
P. 17 TO 19: AFTER THE DEATH - THE END OF TIME - THE KINGDOM
Both Judgments
There are two judgments, the one after the death, the other one at the end of the world.
Immediately after the death the soul has to give an account of his actions :
- If she is in a state of grace and if she has to pay for nothing, she goes to the paradise
- If she is in a state of mortal sin and refuses God's mercy, she goes to hell
- If she is in a state of grace, but if she must still purify, she goes to the purgatory, before being allowed with the paradise.
The return of Christ
Jesus-Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead (i.e. each man) and his kingdom will have no end.
Each one will rise again in the resurrection at the last day for the general judgment. Afterwards, each one will go, in body and soul, according to his good or bad works, with the paradise or in hell.
God' Kingdom and Heaven' Kingdom
The Kingdom of God is the communion of all the human beings between them and with God. To build the Kingdom of God is also to fight against the evil in all its forms, to start with oneself.
The Kingdom of heaven, it is the Paradise where the just raised with a glorious body will live the eternal joy in God's vision.
The Kingdom of God, begun on earth with the incarnation of Jesus, will be completely realized in the Celestial kingdom, the heavenly City.
Biblical extract
“«When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.
Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'
Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?' Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25, 31-46)
P. 20 AND 21 : JESUS SPEAKS - WHO IS JESUS? -
Accompanied with the Apostles, during three years, Jesus goes through Judea and Galilee, preaching the Gospel of the salvation and confirming his words by an infinite number of miracles.
We see him teaching in synagogues, in houses, on places, on mountains, in deserts, by the sea, on the sea even, gone up on the boat of the apostles. The famous speech of the beatitudes is exactly called "the speech on the mountain ".
Jesus uses very often parabolas or comparisons. They are simple and beautiful; those of the prodigal son, the Samaritan, the good shepherd, the ten talents, the ten virgins, and many others. We find them all in Gospel.
After his speeches, we present him disabled person, mutes, deaf persons, maimed persons, blind persons, leper, and to all, he returns the health.
He spreads his graces and his benefactions everywhere. He comes to aid of the unfortunates, whom one brings to him of Palestine and countries of surrounding, because the fame of his miracles spread very far. There are often persons possessed of the devil. He delivers them bad spirits who go out by shouting: "you are the Christ, the Son of God! ".
Near a city, he raises the son of a widow, who already was in the tomb, and some time before his passion, he raises his friend Lazarus, died since four days.
The number of the miracles which he makes in three years of his public life is immense. There, he shows that he is the Messiah expected from the Patriarchs, and predicted by the Prophets and that he is the only Son of God.
During the Transfiguration magnificence of Jesus’ glory appears and apostles hear Father’ voice who proclaims: "This is my beloved Son; listen to him".
The four Gospels testify that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Father, the Son of God, God himself.
Biblical extract
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men […] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father […]
No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known (John 1, 1-18).
P. 22, 23 AND 28: MARY - ANGELS
Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Mary is very present in Gospel. She is the «virgin named Mary ". Mary, new Eve, is the mother of the Messiah announced in the First Will. She occupies the first place among humble people who hope for the salvation with confidence. God wanted that the incarnation is preceded by an acceptance on behalf of Mary.
The feast of the Immaculate Conception reminds that, from the first moment of her creation the soul of the Virgin Mary is not reached by the original sin, because she must become the mother of the Messiah, the Son of God.
The Christians often say the prayer of the Ave Maria where Mary is called Mother of God: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, poor sinners, now and in the hour of our death”. Mary is indeed the Mother of God (Theotokos).
Mary suffered a lot, because she lived the condemnation, the passion and the stake in cross of her own son.
Mary does not bring the salvation, because Jesus is the only Redeemer and Mediator, but she is " cause of salcation for all the human race", because her fiat ( approval) made it possible. May is called as “mediator” from first time of Church, because Jesus made his first miracle in Cana at the Mary's request (mediation).
It is the truth of faith to believe in the rise of Mary in body and in soul in the glory of the Heaven after her death (the Assumption).
Nobody knows when began the prayer to Mary. The first part of the "Hail Mary (Ave Maria)" was preceded by a prayer dating at the latest the year 235. The allusion to the Mary's " immaculate Heart " has an origin in the Gospel, because Luke writes twice that Mary " kept all these things in her heart”.Mary is really the woman with a pure heart.
Her role does not stop after her Assumption. The “Queen of the universe”, by her intercession, continuous to obtain graces for slavation of those who are her children”.
Hail Mary or Ave Maria
It is the main marial prayer:
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, poor sinners, now and in the hour of our death".
The first words are those whom the angel said to Marie when he occurred on behalf of God to announce to her that she would be the Mother of Jesus, the Redeemer.
The following words are those of holy Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary: "You are blessed among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”
By other words of Hail Mary, we ask for the protection of the Virgin Mary during this life and especially at the time of our death.
Rosary
A beautiful prayer to Mary is the Rosary, because it includes the recitation of Our Father and of Ave Maria, by going through the mysteries of the Christian faith:
- Merry mysteries as the annunciation of the Angel or the birth of Jesus
- Luminous mysteries like the wedding at Cana or the Transfiguration of Jesus
- Painful mysteries like the agony of Jesus to the Garden of the Olive-trees or his death
- Glorious mysteries like the resurrection of Jesus or the assumption of Mary.
Mary is regarded as the Queen of the angels and celestial spirits, because she is placed above them, as Mother of God.
Angels
Bible often refers to the heavenly Spirits. We know the name of the Michael archangel and that of the Gabriel and Raphael angels.
The Angels are intelligent and purely spiritual creatures. They have neither face nor form because they are pure spirits. We represent them under sensitive forms to help our imagination to conceive them and because thus they often appeared to the men, as we read it in the Bible.
The Angels were not all faithful to God. Some were excluded for ever from the paradise and condemned for the hell. They became devils, as the one who pulled Adam and Eve in the fall.
The devils can hurt our soul and our body a lot, especially by carrying us in the sin by the temptation. They wish our eternal damnation, because of their hatred against God whose image is in us.
The Angels remained faithful to God enjoy for always the sight of God; they love him, bless him and praise him eternally.
God uses Angels as his Ministers and he entrusts to some the responsibility to be our guards and our defenders.
Biblical extract
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible." And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her (Luke 1, 26-38).
P. 25: CREED OR CREDO
The main part of the contents of the Christian faith is contained in the Creed or "I believe in God". There are two very used forms: the Symbol of the Apostles and the Creed of Nicee Constantinople. The Symbol of the Apostles is the Creed of the Roman primitive Church and the Creed of Nicee Constantinople is more complete.
The Creed is a sort of summary of the truths of the faith taught by the Apostles. It includes following articles
:
1. “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
One gives to God the name of Father because he is Father of Jesus and also because he is the Father of all the men called to be his adoptive sons.
The word the Almighty wants to say that God can do all that he wants, as infinitely perfect Spirit.
God is called the Creator of the sky and the earth because he created anything the whole universe.
The universe was also created by the three divine Persons, because all that makes a Person concerning the creatures, the others also do it in the same act.
2. “And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light, of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father: By whom all things were made”.
The second Person is called the Son, because of any eternity he is begotten of the Father. Therefore he is called also the eternal Word of the Father.
We call Jesus-Christ our Lord, because not only as God he created us, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, but still he repurchased us as God and man.
The Son of God makes man is called Jesus, which wants to say “the Eternal is salvation”, because he saved us eternal deathnullwhich wants to say anointed and crowned, because formerly one devoted by oiling the kings, the priests and the prophets, and that Jesus is the king of the kings and the high Priestnullfor example the figure of Joshua which means Jesus. It is Joshua who enters Land of Promise, in the same way that Jesus admits us to the eternal life).
3. “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And became incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man”.
The three divine Persons contributed to form the body and to create the soul of Jesus-Christ.
Jesus “was conceived of the Holy Spirit”, because the incarnation of the Son of God is a work of kindness and love, and because the works of kindness and love are particularly attributed to the Holy Spirit.
The Son of God was made man without ceasing being God.
The incarnated Word, i.e. Jesus-Christ is true God and true man, perfect God and perfect man.
In Jesus Christ, who is God and man, there are two natures: the divine nature and the human nature.
Jesus-Christ has two wills, human will and divine will.
The Son of God and the Son of Mary are the same person, i.e. Jesus-Christ, true God and true man
4. “He was also crucified for us; suffered under Pontius Pilate, died, and was buried”
Jesus Christ suffered as man only, because as God he could not either suffer or die.
Pontius Pilate, a governor of Judea in 30, condemned Jesus for the crucifixion. He recognized the complete innocence of Jesus, but he sent Jesus to the death by fear, to the threatening instigation of the people.
It was necessary that Jesus-Christ is man to be able to suffer and die, and it was necessary that he is God so that his sufferings have an infinite value.
The body of Jesus Christ was buried in a new sepulchre, dug in the rock not far from the place of the Calvary.
In the death of Jesus Christ his divinity separated neither from the body nor from the soul; there was only separation of the soul and the body.
Afterwards, Jesus descended in the Underworld (Apostles's Symbol). One understands by Underword the place where were the souls of Just, while waiting for the redemption of Jesus-Christ. The souls of Just could not enter the paradise before the death of Jesus-Christ, because the paradise had been closed by the sin of Adam and Eve.
5. “And on the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures”
By his death and his resurrection, Jesus reopened the Paradise and he is the first to enter there, accompanied by Just by before him.
Jesus-Christ is raised by her own power. He is living forever.
6. “He ascended into heaven: and sits at the right hand of the Father”
Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus “led out disciples as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven”. He is high above all the Angels and all the Saints like Lord of all things.
Jesus-Christ the Righteous has taken possession of the kingdom of heaven, to prepare a place with those which love him and being our Mediator and our advocate near her Father.
The words: "sits» mean the peaceful and definitive ownership of the Throne of glory by Christ. The words: "at the right hand of the Father ", shows that he has the place of only honour above all the creatures.
7. “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end”.
At the end of the world Jesus Christ, full with glory and majesty, will come from the heaven to judge all the people and to give to each one the reward or the punishment which he will have deserved.
With the general Judgment, the glory of God will be shown. All will know the true Justice, while we sometimes see the innocents in the punishment and the malicious ones in the prosperity.
With the general Judgment, the glory of the Saints will be shown while one had ignored them even disdained.
With the general Judgment, the confusion of the malicious will be big, especially for those who oppressed the just men and the believers. The committed and not forgiven sins will be known of all.
8. “And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life: Who proceeds from the Father and the Son; Who together with the Father and the Son is no less adored and glorified; and who spoke through the prophets”.
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. He is eternal, infinite, almighty God, Creator and Lord of any things, as the Father and the Son.
The Holy Spirit proceeds of the Father and the Son by spiration (continual movement of love).
The work alloted especially to the Holy Spirit is the sanctification of souls.
The Holy Spirit came down on the Apostles the Whit Sunday, i.e. fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus-Christ and ten days after her Rise (Ascension)..
The Holy Spirit confirmed the Apostles in the faith, filled them with all his gifts.
The Holy Spirit was sent for the whole Church and every faithful soul.
The Holy Spirit, like the soul in the body, vivifies the Church by his grace and his gifts. He establishes there the reign of the truth and the love.
9. “And one holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church”
Jesus-Christ based on the earth a visible institution which is called the Church. All those which belong to this Church are in communion between them. The word Church wants to say “convocation” or meeting of many people.
After the article which deals with the Holy Spirit, one speaks immediately about the Church to indicate that the holiness of the Church comes from the Holy Spirit.
The members of the Church are or in the heaven (it is the trumphing Church), or in the purgatory (it is the suffering Church), or on the earth (it is the militant Church).
These diverse parts of the Church constitute onlyu one Church and only one body, because they have the same chief who is Jesus Christ.
To be member of the Church, it is necessary to be baptized, to believe and profess the doctrines of Jesus-Christ, to take part in the same sacraments, to recognize the legitimate Pastors of the Church.
Jesus-Christ said to Peter the first Pope: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it”. and he also says to him:“Tend my sheep" and "Feed my sheep”.
The tue Church is Holy because Jesus Christ, his invisible chief, is the Saint.
We say that the Church is apostolic, because it goes up without interruption to the Apostles, because it shares their faith and because it is governed by their successors.
There is no salvation outside the Church, as nobody was able to save himself from the Flood outside the Noah's Ark which was the figure of this Church.
All the Just of the Old Testament belonged already spiritually to the Church.
That which is still out of the Church but seeks the truth sincerely and does the will of God can be saved.
Church can be persecuted, but she cannot be destroyed nor to perish. It will last till the end of the world because Jesus is with Church, as he promised.
Church is often persecuted because she is for the life, she denounces the evil and the vices, she fights the passions and condemns many injustices and errors.
The Pope is the successor of Peter. He is also the Bishop of Rome and the leader of the universal Church.
The Bishops are the ministers of faithful, established by the Holy Spirit to govern God's Church on the seats which are entrusted to them. The auxiliaries of the Bishop are the priests and the deacons.
The Church is the communion of the saints. It is a sort of "communicating vessels" where each one gives and receives.
The members of this communion are called saint, because all are called to the holiness and because all were sanctified by the baptism.
10. “I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins”
Jesus gave to the Church the capacity to forgive the sins.
Those which in the Church have this power to forgive the sins are the bishops and the priests.
The Church forgives the sins by the merits of Jesus-Christ, mainly by the Baptism and Penitence.
11. “and I await the resurrection of the death”
All the people will raise. To the almighty God, nothing is impossible.
The resurrection of the deaths will arrive at the end of the world and then will take place the general Judgment.
There will be a difference between the bodies of the Just and the bodies of the damned; because, only, the bodies of the Just will have, as raised Jesus Christ, the properties of the glorious bodies.
The bodies of the damned will not have glorious properties and will carry on the contrary the mark of their eternal reprobation.
12. “and the life of the world to come. Amen”.
After the present life there is another eternally happy life for the Chosen ones in the paradise and definitively unhappy life for the damned in the hell.
We cannot understand the happiness of the paradise, because it surpasses the knowledge of our mind, and because the goods of the heaven cannot compare with the goods of this world.
The happiness of the Chosen Ones consists in seeing, in liking and in possessing for ever God, source of any good.
The happiness of the elected officials consists in seeing, liking and having for always God, source of any good. On the contrary, the misfortune of the damned consists in being always deprived of the sight of God and punish by for eternal torments in the hell.
Biblical extract
« Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and every one who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? […]
He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne to his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life. I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5,1-13).
P. 26, 27, 28 : PRAYER
Definition of the prayer
The prayer is a rise of the spirit and the heart towards God to adore him, thank him and ask him for what which we need.
It is necessary to pray, because God orders that and that the prayer is as the breath of the soul.
The mental prayer or orison is the one that one does only with the spirit: we still call it meditation. The vocal prayer is that which one does with words.
The means to pray indeed are to think that we are in the presence of God, and that we need his mercy and his assistance.
It is necessary to be held outside in the attitude which is convenient for the one who addresses to the infinite majesty of God.
We can and we have to hope to obtain the graces for which we ask, if they are not harmful to the salvation of our soul.
We have to hope that the Lord will fulfil our prayers.
Our Father
The best vocal prayer is the one that Jesus Christ himself taught us, that is Our Father. This prayer contains all that we have to hope for God and all that we must ask him.
In Our Father, there are seven demands. In four first ones, we ask for the good; in three last ones we beg God to be deliver of evil.
“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen” (Matthew 6, 9-13).
His kingdom is that of the beatitudes: the kingdom of love and peace
Bread for which we ask is at the same moment the food for the body and the substantial bread which gives the life to the soul, which is the Eucharist.
The evils from which we ask to be delivered are the sins, the temptations and quite other sadness or the misery.
To obtain the graces asked in Our Father, it is necessary to recite it slowly, with attention and with devotion.
We must say the Lord's Prayer each day, because each day we need the help of God. The first Christians recited it three times per day.
Other prayers
- The prayer of Psalms is very important. Jesus prays with Psalms.
- In honour of the Holy Trinity, one says the "Gloria” or Doxology: "glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as he was at the beginning, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen ".
- The prayer of the Hail Mary (see above) or of the Angelus who reminds the annunciation of the angel Gabriel to Mary.
- One can also pray God with the Saints and even with our parents in the heaven, so that they intercede for us.
- The Christians say also Acts of faith, hope, charity or of contrition.
- There is finally the prayer very simple wellknown as “prayer of the heart: “Jesus, Son of God, Saviour, be merciful to me a sinner”.
All these prayers are in the small Christian prayer books.
Biblical extract
“And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him” (1 John 5, 14-15).
*P 29 AND 30 : CHRISTIAN FEASTS AND SAINTS
Christian calendar is organized around Easter which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. Easter is "the feast of the feasts".
The liturgical year includes all the celebrations which celebrate the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit), the Mother of God (Mary), the angels and the saints. Some feasts are on fixed date (Christmas for example) and others are mobile.
Eucharistic liturgy or mass is the centre of the liturgical life.
Time of Advent prepares in Christmas (birth of Jesus).
Easter is preceded by the Lent, then by the Holy Week. After Easter come the fifty days from Paschal celebration which last until Pentecost.
All the doctrines of the faith are recapitulated and contemplated by the liturgy (the Common prayer of the Christians). The liturgy has an authority: it is the theology of the certainty and the assertion. It produces fruits of holiness (life as a Christ).
The principal feasts (or periods) are as follows:
1. Advent, period which precedes Christmas
2. Christmas - the incarnation of the Word (Jesus)
3. Epiphany (Theophany) : Jesus is the Messiah
4. Lent which is the preparation of Easter
5. The Holy Week, especially the Maundy Thursday, the Good Friday and Holy Saturday
6. Easter, this is the great feast of the resurrection of Jesus
7. The Rise of Jesus to the heaven
8. Pentecost : the sending of the Holy Spirit
9. Assumption of Mary to the heaven (or Dormition)
10. All Saints' Day.
As the Church is "the holy People of God", all its members are called holy (Acts 9, 13; 1 Corinthians 6, 1; 16, 1). That which believes in Jesus Christ, loves his neighbour and lives in state of grace, is holy.
Among those which left this world, the Church canonizes some of them, a very small number among many. Church then proclaims solemnly that they practiced the virtues heroically and lived in fidelity with the grace of God. That means they enjoy the beatific vision and can be regarded as models to follow. These Christians were however not perfect, because God alone is perfect, nor inevitably martyrs or beings out of the common run, but they sought to live the Gospel in an authentic way.
The solemnity of all the Saints was born at the 8th century in Celtic country. The Church proposes this vision of glory to us, with the threshold of the winter, to invite us to live in the hope of the "spring" beyond death.
The saints hold a great place in the liturgy of the Church.
Each time we celebrate Eucharist, we evoke their invisible presence. They are the Church of the Heaven.
