Terminology

Glossary of Catholic Terms

 

Anti-pope

 No one ever said, “I’m an anti-pope!” But many men throughout history have claimed that they were the true pope and that the true pope was not the true pope. Usually, antipopes make this claim for political reasons. The true pope of the Catholic Church is elected according to the canons of the Church; an anti-pope calls himself pope after collecting random admirers (often bishops, but not always) who are willing to repeat that fiction. Saint Hippolytus claims the distinction of being the only anti-pope to repent, be reconciled with the Church, and be recognized by the Church as a saint after his martyrdom.

  Benefice

 A benefice is a church office endowed with financial assets. Strictly speaking, a benefice indicates a right given permanently by the Church to a cleric to receive revenues for his performance of a spiritual service. Though benefices have been abused and misused many times over the centuries by those seeking power and money, the primary reason the Church has offered benefices has always been to put clerics in such a position that they can devote themselves to the service of the Gospel.

The term “confessor” can have one of two meanings in the Church. First, it can mean that the individual “confessed” to the faith during a time of persecution, was willing to die a martyr for the faith, but, for whatever reason, was not executed. Sometimes, for example, Christians in the early Church were imprisoned but a change in political winds or a more lenient local leader later resulted in those Christians being released from prison. Such people were called confessors; this category includes Pope Saint Caius and Saint Maximus the Confessor. The second and more recent meaning of “confessor” is as a reference to a priest who hears confessions. Some saintly priests have been particularly noted and loved for their ability to help Catholics repent and grow in holiness through this sacrament, including priests such as Saints.

To Catholics, a confraternity must also have permission and guidance from the Church, usually from the diocese in which it resides. The type of work done by the group may vary; a confraternity may promote devotion to God, perform spiritual or corporal works of mercy, or support groups within or outside the Church. Some confraternities include only laypeople, some include only vowed religious or priests, and others include all of the above.

  Divine Office

 Our elder brothers, the Jews, have recited prayers at different hours of the day or night for thousands of years. Over the past two mill.

calendar and offices.

  Doctor of the Church

The Church has given the title of Doctor of the Church to (currently) thirty-six saints. In a way, these men and women serve as healers to the Body of Christ by effectively explaining both truth and falsehood in ways that outlast their lives on earth. To become a Doctor of the Church, one must:

  ■ Be a saint. There have been many brilliant thinkers throughout history, but intelligence is no substitute for holiness.

  ■ Write about the faith. The writings of the saint must both be important to the Catholic faithful and be faithful to the teachings of the Church.

Father of the Church

 Many Christian writers from the early days of the Church are now commonly called Fathers of the Church. Those who’ve earned that distinction include bishops, priests, and laymen, but all contributed, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to a better understanding and explanation of the fundamental doctrines of the Church. There are some Christians who are considered Fathers because they contributed to Church teaching but are not considered saints by the Church. This is sometimes because we lack more information about the individual, but also sometimes because of erroneous personal decisions that they made (e.g., Origen may have interpreted Matthew 5:29 too literally and had himself castrated¹) or heretical positions that they held (e, g., Tertullian left the Church because he thought it was being too lenient with sinners). However, it has to be pointed out that the early Church lacked the terminology and historical experience that we take for granted today. Some heresies prove themselves most dangerous after people have tried to live them out, and development of doctrine takes time. The time

Feast

 In the liturgical calendar, a feast is a day of celebration that is of lesser importance than a solemnity but of greater importance than a memorial. For example, see the Feast of the Holy Innocents.

  Memorial

In the Church’s liturgical calendar, a memorial is a day of celebration that is less significant than a feast or a solemnity. So, for example, a memorial of a particular saint is generally trumped by the Sunday Mass celebration, because Sunday itself is of greater liturgical importance. Some memorials are optional, some are not, based on the decision of the local churches and with the agreement of the Vatican. Also, a particular memorial may be of greater importance to a given religious community or country. Notice what happens in communities with a long-standing Irish heritage if Saint Patrick’s Day occurs on a Sunday in a given year.

Patron Saints and Petitions

In the ancient Roman world, men of greater power and wealth made themselves available each day, typically in the early morning, for men with lesser or no power and wealth to come to their homes and meet with them. Not unlike today’s power lunches, funding applications, or even street begging, patrons heard the requests of those in need and decided whether or not to answer them. Sometimes a patron’s intentions were primarily self-serving, such as a desire to increase his own power or avoid a riot (think Pontius Pilate), but having “help in high places” is not necessarily a bad thing. period of the Fathers stretches from the time of the apostles until around the eighth century. The following saints are all Fathers of the Church and are all included in this book.

To ask for our daily bread and for God’s will to be done. But Catholics have invoked saints as heavenly patrons for their own personal needs for centuries precisely because they are in Heaven now, not us. They’re literally in the presence of God for all eternity, so not only are they closer to God, but our reflections on their lives may help us put our own problems in perspective.

How is it that a saint will become known as a patron of a particular cause, illness, or group of people? Typically, that’s due to the saint’s words and actions during his earthly life. For example, Saint Thomas Aquinas.

Rule of Life

 Any person with any religious or philosophical beliefs can develop a rule of life—that is, a plan for living to ensure that those beliefs are lived out on a daily and monthly basis. Over the centuries, individual Catholics, particularly saints, have developed rules of life that they and others have found helpful in pursuing holiness. Each official rule has unique features, though all are based on fundamental Catholic ideals. For example, the Rule of Saint Benedict emphasizes the balance of Benedictines to both “pray and work”, while Carmelites (members of a contemplative order) focus more on prayer and meditation. But all Catholic religious orders or organizations with a rule use that rule as a guide to help members strive for perfection in following Jesus Christ.

See

The Latin word sedes means “seat”, and from earliest times, the bishop’s seat or chair was a symbol of his authority. So a bishop’s see is essentially the area over which he has jurisdiction, also called a diocese or archdiocese.

Simony

As described in Acts 8:9-24, a man named Simon lived in Samaria and enjoyed a considerable popular reputation as a magician. When Saints Peter and John came to the area to confirm converts to the faith, many Christians received the Holy Spirit. Apparently, their Confirmation experience was so visible and miraculous that Simon was impressed and offered to pay money so that he could receive the same gift too. Peter rebuked him for wanting to “buy” God’s gifts, and Simon asked Peter to pray that God would forgive him. An individual might pay a Church leader to speak publicly in his favor. The third gift is called homage, which involves paying for services that should be freely given.

This is more complicated than it might seem. On the surface, it’s clear that no one should ever be deprived of the sacraments because he cannot pay, for example. But the faithful have an obligation to support their priests, out of charity and respect for the sacrifice that they make for us, and an excellent time to thank them would involve the celebration of sacraments such as marriage, Baptism, and Masses for our loved ones. This could be easily abused, on both sides.

Viaticum

The Latin word viaticum roughly means “food for the journey”. When a person is in danger of death, a priest may give the person Viaticum (Holy Communion). This may also be accompanied by the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, previously called the “last rites”. Many of the saints in this collection received Viaticum and faced their deaths so peacefully that those in attendance remarked upon it. However, that’s not a requirement for sanctity; Saint Ignatius of Loyola suddenly died in his sleep before he could receive Viaticum.

 

Excerpt from: "Saints: Becoming an Image of Christ Every Day of the Year" by Dawn Marie Beutner.