Saints

There are over 10,000 Saints established in the Catholic religion starting from 100 A.D. Today, the Pope and Vatican choose Saints. However, before 1983, saints were chosen by public acclaim, proving worthiness through a true democracy. Now, candidates are brought before a board and their life long achievements are evaluated. If he or she is deemed worth by the board, the Pope proclaims the candidate venerable.
S

Rosary-
The Rosary is a traditional popular devotion in the roman catholoic church. The term denotes both a set of prayer beads used in the devotion and the devotional prayer itself, which combines vocal (or silent) prayer and meditation centered around sequences of reciting the Lord's Prayer followed by ten recitations of the "hail mary" prayer and a single recitation of "Glory be to the father"; each of these sequences is known as a decade.
The Rosary can be prayed in 4 parts, one part for each day, with the "Mysteries" (which are contemplated on during the prayers) being rotated daily.
What distinguishes the Rosary from other forms of prayer is thatit includes a series of meditations. Each decade of the Rosary is said while meditating on one of the "Mysteries" of redemption.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday-

Palm Sunday is the Catholic celebration that occurs one week before Easter. The historical significance is when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, a city where he knew many people, they laid down their cloaks and small tree branches to make the ride in more comfortable. Many Churches use the palms given out in mass to be burned for the next year’s palm Sunday.

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday-
Ash Wednesday is the holy day that starts of the Catholic season of lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. Depending on when Easter falls, Ash Wednesday can be anywhere from February 4, to March 10. During masses on Ash Wednesday ashes are put on the foreheads of the people in attendance. Many times the ashes are the from the burned palm leaves from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. In the Roman Catholic Church the ashes can be given to anyone who has been baptized. Also, Ash Wednesday is much of the time observed by fasting and abstinence from meat.

Lives of Catholics

• Catholics grow in the grace of god through prayer, the following of the seven sacraments and the Ten Commandments, and following the teachings of Jesus. Worshipers can be forgiven of their sins through confession.
• The Catholic social teachings include being kind and loving towards one another, helping those in need, and being forgiving of other people’s sins.
• The church teaches that it is God’s will to provide each person with eternal salvation. Both Christians and non-Christians may be saved by God, if they respond to and believe in his grace and truth.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic#Beliefs

Important Holidays

Christmas- Jesus’s day of birth, and is celebrated by giving gifts and being together with family
Easter- Jesus rises from the dead, and is celebrated with the easter bunnie and being together with family.
Lent- Time of fasting and repentance in the spring beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter. The idea is to give up a pleasure to show devotion and self-discipline
Source: Hirch, E.D. Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.Houghton Mifflin Company, New York. 1988.

Spread of Christianity Westward

• Discovery of Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492 sparked the desire to spread faith throughout colonies.
• Churches began to spring up in colonies and religion became a primary focus for many people.
• Christianity began to play an important role in the social values and ways of thinking in America.

Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic#Origins_and_history

Augustine

Considered to be a church father and an important figure in the spread of Western Christianity. Wrote many works that proved very influential in human life and beliefs. Most famous works include Confessions, On Christian Doctrine, and The City of God.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo

Priest

A member of the secound grade of clergy ranking below a bishop but above a deacon and having authority to pronounce absolution and administer all sacraments except ordinance.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic#Presbyterate_.28Priesthood.29

Advent

Advent is the time of preparation for the coming of the Nativity of Christ. In Western Christianity, Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on December 24th. If Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, Catholics are still required to go to Church earlier in the day and attend mass again later in the evening for Christmas services. The Roman Catholic Church uses Purple as its color to represent advent. Advent also serves as the reminder of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews as they awaited the birth of their messiah, and the waiting that is done today by Catholics as they wait for the second coming of Jesus

The Trinity

The trinity is the belief that God exists as three beings; The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Since the 4th century, the "Trinity" doctrine has existed in both the Eastern and Western sects of Christianity. With the Trinity belief, The Son is also believed to be two distinct beings; one divine and one human. The majority of christian sects believe in the trinity, but there are some groups that oppose trinitarianism; Binitarians, Unitarians, The Latter Day Saints (A.K.A. Mormons), and the belief in Modalism. The trinity, being such an important belief, however, the word "trinity" does not appear in the Old Testament or the New Testament. The official accpetance of the belief in the trinity was during the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. (Peter Kreofsky)


Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity

Limbo

Limbo is where the Catholic Church believes that un-baptized babies with orignial sin. Limbo is the permenate status of babies who die in infancy, before they could be baptized, and thus not having been freed from orginial sin. Theologists who believed in this thought that it was a place of maxiumum natural happiness, and minmal punishment. Limbo has never been explicitly defined by the church, and in more recent times, it is a more common belief that dead infants may go to heaven rather than Limbo.

Lent

Lent is the forty day time in the Catholic Church that starts with Ash Wednesday and ends with Holy Thursday (although most other Christian denominations end lent on Holy Saturday.) The Bible says that the forty days represent the time that Jesus spent in the desert in the temptation of Christ. Lent ends with Holy Week and Easter, the Catholic celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Traditionally during Lent, Catholics are supposed to fast and not attend festivities. Many Catholics also give up something that they enjoy during Lent. Lent is suppose to be a time of grief that ends in the celebration of Easter.

Transubstantiation

Transubstantiation is the belief that bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ during the Eucharistic celebration. This holy celebration began during Jesus’ Last Supper. It is written in the Bible that Jesus proclaimed both the bread and wine to be body and blood of Christ. To follow tradition this ritual has been a part of the Catholic Celebration from Jesus’ last day until present time. (This is contributed by CM)



Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transubstantiation

Counter Reformation

The Counter Reformation was during the reign of Pop Pius IV in 1560 and was due largely to the rising increase of popularity of Protestantism. The Council of Trent was a large gathering of cardinals that reaffirmed the structure of the Medieval Church. The Catholic Church continued to uphold their old traditions such as Catholic Doctrine and the sacraments. There would be no compromise between the Catholics and Protestants as far as doctrinal beliefs, sacraments, and the idea of salvation through faith and good works, unlike the Protestants who believed in salvation through faith alone. (Peter Kreofsky)

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter_reformation

Birth into Christianity

Baptism
The sacramental birth into a Christian life. It is viewed as an entry into the ways of the church and a devotion to God. There are three different types of baptism that are recognized by the Roman Catholic Church sacramental baptism (with water), baptism of desire (explicit or implicit desire to be part of the Church founded by Jesus Christ), and baptism of blood (martyrdom).


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism

Jesuits

Jesuits-
Jesuits are members of the Society of Jesus, and are also known as “Soldiers of Christ” partly because the founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola was a knight before founding the Jesuits. Current there are 20,170 Jesuits, 14,147 of whom are Priests. They are the largest male religious order within the Catholic Church. The Jesuits are active in 112 Nations and are on six continents. They are best known because of there education at schools, colleges, universities, seminaries and theological facilities. The Jesuits are also very active in social justice and human rights work around the globe. The GHQ of the Society of Jesus is in Rome.
In 1534, Saint Ignatius and a group of students bound themselves to a life of poverty and chastity to enter “enter upon hospital and missionary work in Jerusalem, or to go without questioning wherever the pope might direct." They named themselves the company of Jesus because they felt that they were with him. This lead to the formation of the Society of Jesus in 1590, no where in the Constitutions does it say anything about being an army for Jesus, a common misconception due to Saint Ignatius’s military background. In 1537, Pope Paul III gave them the commendation which permitted them to ordain priests. The Jesuits quickly spread around the known world to Asia.
In the 1700s there was a suppression of the Jesuits due to political maneuvers rather than religious ideology. Due to economic and political conflicts, in 1773, the Jesuits were expelled from the Roman Catholic Church. In the Western European nations the order was enforced, but in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Russia, the order was ignored. In 1814 the Jesuits were restored back into the church and experienced rapid growth.
Today the Jesuits run over 100 educational institutions, in the US the association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities runs 28 Colleges.

Boston College
Canisius College
College of the Holy Cross
Creighton University
Fairfield University
Fordham University
Georgetown University
Gonzaga University
Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (associate member)
John Carroll University
Le Moyne College
Loyola College in Maryland
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University New Orleans
Marquette University
Regis University
Rockhurst University
Saint Joseph's University
Saint Louis University
Saint Peter's College
Santa Clara University
Seattle University
Spring Hill College
University of Detroit Mercy
University of San Francisco
University of Scranton
Weston Jesuit School of Theology (associate member)
Wheeling Jesuit University
Xavier University

Overview

Overview

The Roman Catholic Church is a Christian church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome who is currently Pope Benedict XVI. It is the largest Christian church and is considered the most devout of the other Christian religions. The Church traces its history to Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles. The teachings of the church are derived from two sources; the Bible and the Sacred Tradition.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_catholic