Abraham - Hebrew for “father of a multitude”, and founder of the nation of Israel.  He was the first to receive a personal call from God and is an Old Testament model of faith.

Angel - a spiritual creature who glorifies God without ceasing.  They possess perfect reasoning and free will.  Comes from the Greek word meaning “messenger”.

Annunciation - The visit of the Archangel Gabriel to announce that she would be the Mother of God.  Feast Day is March 25.

Apostolic Succession - the truth that the bishops of the Church, through their ordination, can trace their authority in an uninterrupted, unbroken chain of succession directly back to the Apostles and Christ.

Ascension - Christ’s return to heaven 40 days after His resurrection.

Assumption - the dogma that teaches that the Blessed Virgin Mary was taken body and soul into heaven immediately upon her death.

Baptism - the first of the seven sacraments.  It incorporates a person into the Body of Christ, the Church.

Canonization - the Church’s official process by which she declares someone a saint.

Catechumenate - a process used in the early Church to educate and prepare those who wished to become Catholic.  Today the process is called RCIA or the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.

Catholic - Greek meaning “universal”.  It is also the name of the universal Church established by Christ.

Christ - Greek for anointed; used to refer to Jesus because he accomplished perfectly the divine mission of priest, prophet, and king.

Church - the entire assembly of the people of God all over the world; comes from the Greek word ekklesia.

Communion of Saints - the unity in Christ of all the redeemed, especially those on earth and those who have died and are in heaven or Purgatory.

Confirmation - one of the Sacraments of Initiation; it completes the Baptismal cycle by a special outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Covenant - a  solemn promise between people or between God and man.

Deposit of Faith - the definitive revelation of Christ given to the Apostles, and through them, to the entire Church as Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

Divine Inspiration - the special guidance that the Holy Spirit gave to the human authors of the Bible to ensure that there are no errors in God's Word.

Divine Revelation - God making Himself known to us.  The two sources of Divine Revelation are Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

Dogma - a revealed truth solemnly defined by the Magisterium of the Church.  Examples include the Incarnation, the death and resurrection of Christ, and the Immaculate Conception.

Ecumenism - the efforts to reunite all Christians on earth and to cooperate among faith traditions in achieving common goals.

Eucharist - comes from the Greek word meaning thanksgiving; the Sacrament by which bread and wine are consecrated by a priest and become the true Body and Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus.

Evangelization - the mission given by Christ to the apostles to preach the gospel to the whole world and make converts in every nation.

Faith - the theological virtue by which one believes in all that God has revealed.

Four Marks of the Church - the four characteristics of the Church mentioned in the Nicene Creed; they are one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.

Heaven - the eternal state of supreme happiness with God.

Hell - the eternal state of separation and exclusion from God’s presence; the dwelling of Satan and the other fallen angels.

Heresy -the obstinate denial by a baptized person of some truth that must be believed with divine faith.  Examples include that Jesus was never crucified or rose from the dead.

Holy Orders - the sacrament by which men are ordained to the priesthood or the diaconate.

Idolatry - the worship of idols, or false gods.

Immaculate Conception - the dogma defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854 that states that from the moment of her conception in her mother’s womb, Mary was free from the stain of original sin.