Grade 7

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION:

The handing on of apostolic preaching and authority from the Apostles to their successors the bishops through the laying on of hands, as a permanent office in the Church. The fourth mark of the Church is that the Church is apostolic, which means that the Church is built on the lasting foundation of the Apostles.

BAPTISM:

The first Sacrament we receive. Baptism makes us members of the Church, forgives our sins, and gives us new life in Christ. It is necessary for salvation. The celebration of Baptism involves being immersed in water or having water poured over one’s head in the name of the Holy Trinity.

CARDINAL VIRTUES:

Virtues acquired by human effort. They are the key moral virtues which all other moral virtues are grouped around. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts and help prepare the powers of human beings for communion with God’s love. They are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.

CHASTITY:

A moral virtue that helps us manage or control our desires for bodily and spiritual pleasure in the way that God intended. Chastity specifically involves self-mastery of sexual feelings. It is also a virtue that helps us choose what is best for others. Jesus Christ is a model of a chaste life.

CHURCH:

The communion of the faithful, those who have died and are in Heaven with God and all the angels and saints (the Church Triumphant), those who have died but are in a state of purification in Purgatory but are assured of salvation (the Church Suffering), and those who are working out their salvation here on earth (the Church Militant). The Church was founded by Jesus and will exist until the end of time. The Church is at the same time human and divine. She is the mystical Body of Christ, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the Body of Christ and unites its members.

COMMUNION OF SAINTS

All the members of Christ and His Church: those here on earth, those in Purgatory, and those in Heaven.

CONFIRMATION:

The Sacrament of Initiation that strengthens the outpouring of the Holy Spirit received in Baptism. Confirmation also gives us special strength to spread and protect our Catholic Faith. The celebration of Confirmation involves the bishop laying his hands upon the person and praying for God’s blessing. The bishop will also anoint the person with holy oil as a sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

CONSCIENCE

The gift God gave human beings to be able to use reason in order to judge right from wrong. Conscience is God’s voice in our hearts. We have a responsibility to educate ourselves and inform our conscience with prayer and God’s word, about what is truly good. A poorly-formed conscience will lead us to sin.

DEPOSIT OF FAITH:

The whole content of the Christian faith formed by Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition together. The deposit of faith was revealed by God through Jesus Christ and has been faithfully guarded and interpreted by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.

EUCHARIST:

The Sacrament in which we receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Christian life. It is spiritual food for the soul. It is not merely a symbol, but is Jesus’ true flesh and blood.

FORTITUDE:

A Cardinal Virtue that helps us continue when faced with difficulty.

GOSPEL

“Good News.” The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are the heart of the Scriptures and proclaim the Good News of salvation won for us by the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospels are our primary source of knowledge of the life of Jesus Christ.

GREAT COMMANDMENTS:

Jesus’ teaching that “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These two commandments are a summary of all Ten Commandments.

GREAT FLOOD:

God caused it to rain for forty days and forty nights, which flooded the earth and washed away the sin and wickedness of humanity. Only Noah and his family and two of every animal were spared in order to renew creation and for God to enter into a new covenant with the human race.

HOLY SPIRIT:

The third Person of the Holy Trinity. He proceeds from the Father and the Son and is worshiped and glorified as fully God. The Holy Spirit fills us with His gifts and guides us to holiness in the Church.

INCARNATION:

The Christian belief that the second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, assumed a human nature and became man in the Person of Jesus Christ.

INTERCESSION:

A form of prayer in which we ask for God’s help for others. The saints intercede for us in Heaven.

JUSTICE:

A Cardinal Virtue that helps us give God and neighbor their due.

LENT:

The liturgical season in which we focus on the Paschal Mystery by reflecting upon Jesus’ life, Passion, Death, and Resurrection, and how He redeemed us of our sins. During Lent we do penance and prepare our hearts to receive the salvation won for us by Christ. The color of this season is violet, or purple for penance and humility.

LITURGICAL YEAR:

A calendar that charts the various seasons, remembrances, feasts, and celebrations in the life of the Church over the course of a year. The liturgical year begins with Advent and includes the seasons of Christmas, Lent, Holy Week or Triduum, Easter, and the two larger periods of Ordinary Time.

LITURGY OF THE HOURS:

Also called the Divine Office, it is the public prayer of the Church which sanctifies the whole course of the day and night. It consists of a variety of prayers, Scripture readings, most especially the Psalms, and writings of the saints. It is divided into seven “hours” or “offices,” each to be prayed at specific times of the day. Bishops, priests, deacons, and religious are obligated to pray the full sequence of the hours, observing as closely as possible the true time of day. Lay persons are also encouraged to pray the Liturgy of the Hours so that it may be the prayer of the whole People of God.

OUR FATHER:

Also called the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer that Jesus gave to His apostles during the Sermon on the Mount. It contains seven petitions asking for the coming of God’s Kingdom and our physical and spiritual needs.

MARRIAGE:

The Sacramental joining of one man and one woman in a free, faithful, fruitful, and indissoluble union. It is an integral part of human nature that has been written into the complementarity of the male and female bodies and the human soul from our origins.

MESSIAH:

The Hebrew word for “anointed one.” All of the kings descended from David were anointed as a sign of their kingship. This made all of the kings in the line of David “messiahs.” God promised the Chosen People that He would send the Messiah to free them from sin. Jesus is the Son of David and God’s promised Messiah and Savior.

MORTAL SIN:

Serious sin that we choose to commit even though we know it is wrong. Mortal sin separates us from God and completely rejects His love for us.

NEW TESTAMENT:

The 27 books of Scripture that appear after the Old Testament that tell the story of the New Covenant. In the New Testament we meet God’s Word Incarnate Jesus Christ, and we learn of His life, teachings, Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension, as well as the story of the beginning of His Church guided by the Holy Spirit. The four Gospels hold a place of special importance in the New Testament and all of Scripture.

HOLY ORDERS:

The Sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to His Apostles continues to be carried out in the Church until the end of time. This Sacrament ordains men to the priesthood of the Catholic Church and bestows upon them the power to administer the Sacraments.

PRUDENCE:

A Cardinal Virtue that helps us to have right reason and put it into action. It helps us to make the right decision at the right time and to find the best way to achieve a good outcome.

ROSARY:

A special prayer in which we reflect on the Joyful, Sorrowful, Luminous, and Glorious Mysteries – important events in the lives of Jesus and Mary.  A string of beads of the same name is usually used to aid the prayer.

SACRAMENT:

A sign of God’s grace that gives the grace that it signifies. Jesus founded seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance and Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Holy Matrimony.

SACRAMENT OF PENANCE:

Also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. A Sacrament that gives us a chance to confess our sins when we are truly sorry and receive forgiveness from God through a priest. This Sacrament reunites us with God and His Church when we seek forgiveness for our sins.

SIN:

A deliberate offense against God. It is something we say, think, do, or fail to do that is against the eternal law of God. It is a failure to love God and neighbor.

SOCIAL TEACHING:

The teaching (social doctrine) of the Church on the truth of revelation about human dignity, human solidarity, and the principles of justice and peace; the moral judgments about economic and social matters required by such truth and about the demands of justice and peace (2419-2422). 

TEMPERANCE:

A Cardinal Virtue that helps us avoid extremes and find the right balance between too much and too little of the good things in life.

TEMPERANCE:

A Cardinal Virtue that helps us avoid extremes and find the right balance between too much and too little of the good things in life.

THEOLOGICAL VIRTUES:

Gifts infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as His children and of meriting eternal life. They are faith, hope, and charity (or love).

SACRED TRADITION:

The mode of transmission of the Word of God. The Word of God was given to the Apostles by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The Apostles in turn handed it on to their successors, the bishops. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the Church has kept the Word of God whole and safe over the centuries so we can know and believe in the whole Faith today. Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single deposit — or one gift — of the Word of God. We accept and honor Sacred Tradition equally with Sacred Scripture.

VIRTUE:

A habit of doing what is good. We build virtues through our own efforts and with God’s grace.