BASIC CATECHISM
Summary of Christian Beliefs
CATHOLICS are required to know and believe:
CATHOLICS are required to know and believe:
- that there is one supreme, eternal, infinite God, the Creator of heaven and earth
- that GOD will reward the good forever in heaven
- that GOD will punish forever in hell the wicked who die unrepentant
- that in the Holy Trinity there are three Persons, coeternal, coequal: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
- that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, became man and died on the cross to save us from our sins
- the tenets (or principles) of the “Apostles Creed” (“I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth”…)
- in the Ten Commandments of God and the Precepts of the Church
- that the Seven Sacraments instituted by Christ give us grace
- that Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are entrusted to the Church.
- everything God teaches us through his Church because God can neither deceive nor be deceived
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The Six Precepts of the Church (1) You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. (2) You shall confess your sins at least once a year. (3) You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter Season. (4) You shall keep the holy days of obligation. (5) You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence. (6) You shall provide for the material needs of the church. |
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Corporal Works of Mercy (1) Feeding the hungry (2) Giving drink to the thirsty (3) Clothing the naked (4) Sheltering the homeless (5) Visiting the sick (6) Visiting the imprisoned (7) Burying the dead |
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Spiritual Works of Mercy
(1) Counseling the doubtful (2) Instructing the ignorant (3) Admonishing sinners (4) Comforting the afflicted (5) Forgiving offenses (6) Bearing wrongs patiently (7) Praying for the living and the dead |
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The Seven Sacraments (1) Baptism (2) Confirmation (3) The Holy Eucharist (4) Reconciliation or Penance (5) Anointing of the Sick (6) Holy Orders (7) Matrimony |
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