Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Catechism of the Immaculate Heart
"And what are we to say of the THREE CHILDREN FROM FATIMA who suddenly, on the eve of the outbreak of the October Revolution, heard: 'Russia will convert' and 'In the end, my Heart will triumph'...? They could not have invented those predictions[...]Perhaps this is also why the Pope was called from 'a faraway country'[...]it would be simplistic to say that Divine Providence caused the fall of communism[...]JASNA GORA BECAME PART OF THE HISTORY OF MY HOMELAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, AS A SORT OF "BE NOT AFRAID!" SPOKEN BY CHRIST THROUGH THE LIPS OF HIS MOTHER[...]I could see....that there was a certain continuity among La Salette, Lourdes, and Fatima--and, in the distant past, our Polish Jasna Gora[...]At first, I did not pay attention to the fact that the assassination attempt had occurred on the exact anniversary of the day Mary appeared to the three children at Fatima in Portugal and spoke to them the words that now, at the end of this century, seem to be close to their fulfillment." --Pope John Paul II, CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF HOPE
398: St. John Chrysostom was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople. He revised the Byzantine Liturgy which today bears his name. He is called by both East and West a "Father" or "Doctor" of the Church, which means his writings are considered to have value for all time.
590: St. Gregory the Great--Doctor of the Church--was unanimously elected Pope. He revised the Liturgy of Rome, making tremendous contributions which persist to this day. It was his Liturgy which was codified 1000 years later under Pope St. Pius V--commonly referred to today as the "Tridentine" Liturgy.
662: St. Maximos the Confessor--currently celebrated in the East as one the greatest spiritual writers of all time--had his tongue plucked out for defending the teaching that Christ had a human will as well as a Divine one. This teaching was formally upheld shortly later by the third council of Constantinople.
885: St. Cyril and St. Methodius, themselves from the East, evangelized the Slavic nations, in full harmony with the Christian traditions of both the East and West--promoting a spirit of unity amid cultural diversity.
988: Prince St. Volodymyr upon his conversion inspired a multitude of conversions among his people, Baptizing the Ukraine, adopting the liturgy of the East. Wife of St. Volodymyr brought from Byzantium images of the Blessed Virgin, among them, what is today known as "Our Lady of Czestochowa," in which Mary is depicted as holding the Divine Child in her left, and pointing to her heart with her right.
1037: Son and successor of St. Volodymyr, Yaroslav the wise, consecrated the Ukraine to the Blessed Virgin, the first nation to be so consecrated.
1054: A split occurred between the Churches of the East and of the West, essentially between Rome and Constantinople.
1382: Through and amid political turmoil, the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa made its way to Poland--where, after receiving a scar during an invasion of Prince St. Ladislaus' castle, the image was placed by the Prince in the Church of the Assumption in Jasna Gora for protection.
1517: Protestant reformers started a process resulting in further splinterings and divisions in Christianity. Going against this current was the Ukrainian Catholic Church, which expressly affirmed its union with Rome in the same century, shortly after the Council of Trent (1596).
1623: Ukrainian Archbishop St. Josaphat--appointed 1617--was martyred for the unity of Eastern and Western Churches.
1656: Through a series of miracles associated with the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Jan Casimir, King of Poland, was inspired to consecrate the nation (which had adopted the liturgy of Rome) to the Blessed Virgin--just as Yaroslav had consecrated the Ukraine. The Pope was to ratify this consecration by officially acknowledging the title of Mary as, "Queen of Poland," allowing it to be included in her litany.
1675: There was a "private revelation" of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary of France, asking for special devotion to his Sacred Humanity and his sufferings, symbolized by His pierced Heart. In suit with this universal call to devotion to the Sacred Heart, St. Margaret also relayed a personal message to the King of France to consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart (1689)--a request neither he nor his successors heeded.
1789: Monarchy in France was usurped and the King was beheaded--marking a new political trend. About the same time and through kindred forces, the splinters of the reformation began to synthesize with atheism, working to undermine and even infiltrate the Catholic Church, albeit in new forms.
1910: These syntheses were battled by Pontiffs over the next century--heroically and most successfully by Pope St. Pius X. Pope St. Pius X instituted an oath for clerics against these errors "being daily spread among the faithful." At about the same time, he also provided a new crown for the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, replacing the one given her by the Pope in 1717 and stolen in 1909.
1917: There was a "private revelation" of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima to three children, requesting that the Pope collegially consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart with all the Bishops of the world, and promoting devotion to Mary's Immaculate Heart along side of devotion to Jesus' Sacred Heart. In the wake of this revelation and in the absence of said consecration, Christianity was intensely persecuted by the Soviet regime. Eastern Catholicism in the Ukraine, however, remained faithful to Rome, despite its actually being declared by Moscow "non- existent" and essentially outlawed in 1946.
1962: Pope John XXIII called a second Vatican council to renew the Church and seek full unity with the East. He made an agreement with Moscow to remain silent about evils of communism, in order to secure the presence of Russian Orthodox Church at the council. John XXIII did not, however, survive to complete the council he convoked or collegially consecrate Russia.
1965: Paul VI completed the council which was continued with the extended aim of unity among all Christians. He lifted the oath of Pope St. Pius X. He mutually lifted, with the Patriarch of Constantinople, the mutual sentences of excommunications made in 1054 between the Patriarch of Constantinople and delegates of Rome. However, he also promoted the non-Orthodox devotions of the rosary and the scapular (devotions promoted as well by the Fatima revelation). He also revised the calendar of feast days and promulgated a new liturgy. Paul VI considered Vatican II the "great catechism of modern times."
1979: Pope John Paul II, Pole and first Slavic Pope in history, consecrated the entire Church to Our Lady of Czestochowa--shortly after his election in 1978. He was to be the first Pope since the Council to formally affirm that Moscow's "abolition" of the Ukrainian Catholic Church was invalid (1980). He was shot on the anniversary of the revelation at Fatima (in '81), and attributes his survival to the Blessed Virgin. Breaking John XXIII's agreement, he was also the first voice from the Vatican since the Council to condemn communism itself---which he did forcefully and systematically (1984).
1985: An extraordinary synod of Bishops called for a new universal catechism, following the lead of an American Cardinal. In the same year John Paul II, in an encyclical celebrating the 11th centenary of the evangelization of the Slavs, called St. Cyril and St. Methodius the precursors to ecumenism and Vatican II.
1987: In an encyclical explaining devotion to Mary, John Paul II promoted personal consecration to the Blessed Virgin as taught by the French "missionary" of France--St. Louis Marie de Montfort--and announced a "Marian year": 1987-88 (coinciding with the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of the Ukraine).
1992: The Catechism was collegially completed and approved by committee on Feb 14 (the new Latin feast day of St. Cyril and St. Methodius--chosen to commemorate the death of the younger brother, St. Cyril, the first to be "born to heaven"). By the necessity to circulate its many drafts in a common language, the first edition was in French. John Paul II waited to promulgate the new Catechism until Oct 11--the 30th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II--on what would have been the feast of the Motherhood of Mary--what was such at the opening of the Council. The second Vatican Council was closed on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
1994: After much difficulty and corrections of mistranslation in the first draft produced in America, an English translation is approved by the Vatican. The editor of the Catechism, Christoph Shonborn, calls it the "secret catechism of the Sacred Heart" by virtue of its internal organization and pivotal thematic reference to the human heart. Although it does not refer to Pope St. Pius X, the new Catechism affirms the content of his oath. The new Catechism also explicitly refers to the Sacred Heart--and associates the sufferings of Christ with the heart of Mary.
"The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God." (27) "'God, who through the Word creates all things and keeps them in existence, gives men an enduring witness to Himself in created realities. Planning to make known the way of heavenly salvation, He went further and from the start manifested Himself to our first parents.' [Vat II]" (54) "This revelation was not broken off by our first parents sin." (55) "The covenant with Noah after the flood gives expression to the principle of divine economy towards the 'nations.'" (56) "This state of division into many nations...is intended to limit the pride of fallen humanity. [cf. Acts 17:26-27]" (57)
"In order to gather together scattered humanity God calls Abram from his country, his kindred, and his father's house, and makes him Abraham, that is, 'the father of a multitude of nations.' [Gen 17:5]" (59) "He established with [Israel] the covenant of Mount Sinai and, through Moses, gave them his law so that they would recognize him and serve him as the one living and true God." [Vat II] (62) "Through the prophets, God forms his people in the hope of salvation, in the expectation of a new and everlasting Covenant intended for all, to be written on their hearts. [cf. Isa 2:2-4; Jer 31:31-34; Heb 10:16]" (64) "Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father's one, perfect, and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. [cf. Heb 1:1-2]" (65) "'Christ the Lord, in whom the full revelation of the supreme God is brought to completion, commissioned the apostles to preach to all men that gospel which is the source of all saving truth and moral teaching, and thus to impart to them divine gifts. This gospel had been promised in former times through the prophets, and Christ Himself fulfilled it and promulgated it with his own lips.' [Vat II; cf. Mt 28:19- 20; Mk 16:15]" (75)
"Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely." (102) "'[The] Old and the New Testament in their entirety, with all their parts [were] written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit [and] have God as their author and have been handed on as such to the Church herself.' [Vat II; cf. Jn 20:31; 2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:19-21; 3:15-16]" (105) "'In composing the sacred books, God [employed authors so that they] consigned to writing everything and only those things which He wanted.' [Vat II]" (106) "'[Since] everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching firmly, faithfully, and without error that truth which God wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation.' [Vat II]" (107) "'The phrase "heart of Christ" can refer to Sacred Scripture, which makes known his heart.' [Aquinas]" (112) "'But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.' [St. Augustine]" (119) "The Old Testament is an indispensable part of Sacred Scripture. Its books are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value, for the Old Covenant has never been revoked." (121) "'But above all it's the Gospels that occupy my mind when I'm at prayer.' [St. Therese of Lisieux]" (127) "God is the author of Sacred Scripture because he inspired its human authors." (136)
"It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature. [cf. Jer 17:5-6; Ps 40:5; 146:3-4]" (150) "'If...faith is to be shown, the grace of God and the interior help of the Holy Spirit must precede and assist, moving the heart and turning it to God.' [Vat II]" (153) "[In believing we] 'yield by faith the full submission of...intellect and will to God who reveals.' [Vat I]" (154) "'Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace.' [Aquinas]" (155) "[God] 'can neither deceive nor be deceived.' So 'that the submission of our faith might...be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit.' Thus the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability 'are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all'; they are 'motives of credibility'...which show that the assent of faith is 'by no means a blind impulse of the mind.' [Vat I]" (156) "'Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth.' [Vat I]" (159)
"Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. 'Since "without faith it is impossible to please [God]" and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life "but he who endures to the end."' [Vat I; cf. Mt 10:22; 24:13; Mk 16:16; Jn 3:36; 6:40; Heb 11:6; Council of Trent]" (161) "'Indeed, the Church, though scattered throughout the whole world...having received the faith from the apostles...believes as if having but one soul and a single heart.' [St. Irenaeus]" (173) "'For though languages differ throughout the world, the content of the Tradition is one and the same.' [St. Irenaeus]" (174) "Whoever says 'I believe' says 'I pledge myself to what we believe.'" (185) "From the beginning, the apostolic Church expressed and handed on her faith in brief formulae for all. [cf. 1 Cor 15:3- 5]" (186) "THE APOSTLE'S CREED is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostle's faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome. Its great authority arises from this fact: it is 'the Creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter, the first of the apostles, to which he brought the common faith.' [St. Ambrose]" (194) "Jesus himself affirms that God is 'the one Lord' whom you must love 'with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.' [Mk 12:29-30]" (202) "God revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people, but the revelation that proved to be the fundamental one for both the Old and the New Covenants was the revelation of the divine name to Moses in the theophany of the burning bush, on the threshold of the Exodus and of the covenant on Sinai." (204) "'When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will realize that "I Am."' [Jn 8:28]" (211) "The revelation of the ineffable name 'I Am who Am' contains...the truth that God alone IS...All creatures receive all that they are and have from him." (213) "God, who alone made heaven and earth, can alone impart true knowledge of every created thing in relation to himself. [cf. Ps 115:15; Wis 7:17- 21]" (216)
"Human intelligence is surely already capable of finding a response to the question of origins. The existence of God the Creator can be known with certainty through his works, by the light of human reason, even if this knowledge is often obscured and disfigured by error. [cf. Rom 1:19-20; Vat I] This is why faith comes to confirm and enlighten reason in the correct understanding of this truth: 'By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.' [Heb 11:3]" (286) "Beyond the natural knowledge that every man can have of the Creator, God progressively revealed to Israel the mystery of creation." (287) "Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his people....And so, the truth of creation is also expressed with growing vigor in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms and the liturgy, and in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People. [cf. Gen 15:5; Jer 33:19-26...Isa 44:24; Ps 104; Prov 8:22-31]" (288) "[God] 'made all things by himself, that is by his Word and by his Wisdom,' 'by the Son and the Spirit' who, so to speak, are 'his hands.' Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity. [St. Irenaeus]" (292) "Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating a pure heart in them. [cf. Ps 51:12]" (298)
"The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith." (328) "With their whole beings the angels are SERVANTS and messengers of God. Because they 'always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven...' [Mt 18:10] Christ is at the center of the angelic world. [cf. Mt 25:31]" (331) Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the accomplishment of the divine plan. [cf. Gen 3:24; 19; 21:17; 22:11; Ex 23:20-23; Judg 13; 6:11-24; 1 Kings 19:5; Job 38:7; Isa 6:6; Acts 7:53]" (332) "In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God...in the 'Cherubic Hymn' of the Byzantine Liturgy, she celebrates the memory of certain angels more particularly (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and the guardian angels)." (335) "'May you be praised, O Lord, in all your creatures...' [St. Francis of Assisi]" (344) "Creation was fashioned with a view to the sabbath and therefore for the worship and adoration of God..." (347) "The sabbath is at the heart of Israel's law." (348) "But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ's Resurrection...The eighth day begins the new creation...the splendor of which surpasses that of the first creation. [cf. Roman Missal]" (349)
"'The first Adam was made by the last Adam.' [St. Chrysologous]" (359) "The human body shares in the dignity of 'the image of God.' [1 Cor 6:19-20; 15:44-45]" (364) "[Spirit] and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature. [cf. Council of Vienne]" (365) "The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the HEART, in the biblical sense of the depths of one's being, where the person decides for or against God." (368) "Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice...'The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing...' [Lateran Council IV] (391) "radically and irrevocably [rejecting] God and his reign. [cf. 2 Pet 2:4; St. John Damascene]" (392) "'The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.' [1 Jn 3:8]" (394) "The HAIL MARY reaches its high point in the words, 'blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.' The Eastern prayer of the heart, the JESUS PRAYER, says: 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'" (435) "'The human nature of God's Son, NOT BY ITSELF BUT BY ITS UNION WITH THE WORD, knew and showed forth in itself everything that pertains to God.' [St. Maximos]" (473) "By its union to the divine wisdom in the person of the Word incarnate, Christ enjoyed in his human knowledge the fullness of understanding of the eternal plans he had come to reveal. [cf. Mk 13:32; Acts 1:7]" (474) "Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony, and his Passion and gave himself up for each one of us [Gal 2:20]...He has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation [cf. Jn 19:34], 'is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that...love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings.' [Pius XII]" (478) "Christ, being true God and true man, has a human intellect and will, perfectly attuned and subject to his divine intellect and divine will, which he has in common with he Father and the Holy Spirit. [cf. Council of Nicaea, Ephesus, Chalcedon, Constantinople II & III]" (482) "The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God 'the All- Holy' (Panagia)." (493) "'Being obedient [Mary] became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race...The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.' [St. Irenaeus]" (494) "The spousal character of the human vocation in relation to God is fulfilled perfectly in Mary's virginal motherhood [cf. 2 Cor 11:2]" (505) "...THE SIGN OF HER FAITH 'unadulterated by any doubt,' and of her undivided gift of herself to God's will. [Vat II; cf. 1 Cor 7:34-35] It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Savior: 'Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ.' [St. Augustine]" (506) "No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God here below except by kneeling before the manger at Bethlehem and adoring him hidden in the weakness of a new-born child." (563)
"'Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.' [St. Rose of Lima; cf. Mt 16:24; 1 Pet 2:21; Col 1:24]" (618) "Christ's Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowledge it as an historical fact. [cf. Lk 22:31-32]" (643) "The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatalogical judgment. [cf. Denzinger-Schonmetzer; Pius XI]" (676) "Mary, the all-holy ever- virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the DWELLING PLACE where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men." (721) "It was fitting that the mother of him in whom 'the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily' [Col 2:9] should herself be 'full of grace.' She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin. [cf. Pius IX]" (722) "Mary became...the new Eve...the mother of the 'whole Christ.' [cf. Jn 19:25-27; Ephesus] As such, she was present with the Twelve, who 'with one accord devoted themselves to prayers.' [Acts 1:14]" (726) "As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam's side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross. [cf. St. Ambrose]" (766) "Mary goes before us all in the holiness that is the Church's mystery as 'the bride without spot or wrinkle.' [Eph 5:27] This is why the 'Marian' dimension of the Church precedes the 'Petrine.' [JP II]" (773)
"One becomes a MEMBER of [the Church] not by a physical birth, but by...faith in Christ and Baptism. [Vat II; Jn 3:3-5]" (782) "[What] 'is as priestly as to dedicate a pure conscience to the Lord and to offer the spotless offerings of devotion on the altar of the heart?' [St. Leo the Great]" (786) "'Our redeemer has shown himself to be one person with the holy Church whom he has taken to himself.' [Pope St. Gregory the Great]" (795) "The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. [Jn 3:29; cf. Rev 22:17]" (796) "[The] 'Church herself, with her marvelous propagation, eminent holiness, and inexhaustible fruitfulness in everything good, her catholic unity and invincible stability, is a great and perpetual motive of credibility and an irrefutable witness of her divine mission.' [Vat I]" (812) "[The] unity of the pilgrim Church is also assured by visible bonds of communion: profession of one faith received from the Apostles; common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments; apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God's family. [Vat II]" (815) "[The] sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior...entrusted to Peter's personal care....[and] which is governed by the successor of Peter. [Vat II]" (816) "However...[all] who have been justified by faith and in Baptism are incorporated into Christ;" (818) "Christ's Spirit uses...Churches [in the faith of Christ but separated from full communion with the Catholic Church]...as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him, and are in themselves calls to 'Catholic unity.' [Vat II]" (819)
"[It is] the unfaithfulness of the members to Christ's gift which causes divisions." (821) "[In the Catholic Church] 'the fullness of the means of salvation' [Vat II] has been deposited." (824) "'If the Church was a body composed of different members, it couldn't lack the noblest of all; IT MUST HAVE A HEART, AND A HEART BURNING WITH LOVE.' [St. Therese of Lisieux]" (826) "[If Christians] move away from [the Church's life], they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity.' [Paul VI]" (827) "[The faithful] 'turn their eyes to Mary': in her, the Church is already the 'all-holy.'" [Vat II; cf. Eph 5:26-27]" (829) "Particular Churches are fully catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome 'which presides in charity.' [St. Ignatius of Antioch]...Indeed 'from the incarnate Word's descent to us, all Christian churches everywhere have held and hold the great Church that is here [at Rome] to be their only basis and foundation since, according to the Savior's promise, the gates of hell have never prevailed against her.' [St. Maximos]" (834) "The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is 'the world reconciled.' She is that bark which 'in the full sail of the Lord's cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world.' According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's ark, which alone saves from the flood. [cf. St. Augustine; St. Ambrose]" (845)
"'The sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic...subsists in the Catholic Church.' [Vat II]" (870) "Entirely dependent on Christ who gives mission and authority, ministers are truly 'slaves of Christ,' in the image of him who freely took 'the form of a slave' for us. [cf. Rom 1:1; Phil 2:7]" (876) "When Christ instituted the Twelve, 'he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them.' [Vat II; cf. Lk 6:13; Jn 21:15-17]" (880) "The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the 'rock' of his Church. He have him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. [cf. Mt 16:18-19]" (881) "The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, 'supreme, full, immediate, and universal authority over the care of souls.' [Vat II]" (937) "'If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.' [1 Cor 12:26-27]" (953) "'Thus the Blessed Virgin...loyally persevered...suffering grievously with her only- begotten Son. There she united herself with a maternal heart to His sacrifice, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth.' [Vat II]" (964) "Finally the Immaculate Virgin...was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son.' [Pius XII; cf. Vat II; Byzantine Liturgy]" (966) "'The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship...' [Paul VI] The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an 'epitome of the whole Gospel,' express this devotion to the Virgin Mary. [Vat II]" (971)
"'We believe in the true resurrection of this flesh that we now possess.' [Council of Lyons II]" (1017) "Scripture speaks of [heaven] in images: life, light, peace, wedding feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father's house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: 'no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.' [1 Cor 2:9]" (1027) "At the end of time...'the human race as well as the entire world, which is intimately related to man and achieves its purpose through him, will be perfectly re-established in Christ.' [Vat II; cf. Acts 3:21; Eph 1:10; Col 1:20; 2 Pet 3:10-13]" (1042) "The visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, 'so that the world itself, restored to its original state, facing no further obstacles, should be at the service of the just,' [St. Irenaeus] sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ." (1047) "'God is preparing a new dwelling place and a new earth where justice will abide, and whose blessedness will answer and surpass the longings for peace which spring up in the human heart.' [Vat II]" (1048) "Then the just will reign with Christ for ever, glorified in body and soul, and the material universe will itself be transformed. God will then be 'all in all' (1 Cor 15:28), in eternal life." (1060)
"[The] contemplation of sacred icons, united with meditation on the Word of God and the singing of liturgical hymns, enters into the harmony of the signs of celebration so that the mystery celebrated is imprinted in the heart's memory and then expressed in the new life of the faithful." (1162) "The day of Christ's Resurrection is both the first day of the week, the memorial of the first day of creation, and the 'eighth day'...the 'day that knows no evening.' [Byzantine liturgy]" (1166) "[In a] church, a 'house of prayer [in which] the most Holy Eucharist is celebrated and preserved' [Vat II]...the truth and the harmony of the signs that make it up should show Christ to be present and active in this place." (1181) "The tabernacle is to be situated 'in churches in a most worthy place with the greatest honor.' [Paul VI] The dignity, placing, and security of the Eucharistic tabernacle should foster adoration before the Lord really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. [Vat II]" (1183) "The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are ONE SINGLE SACRIFICE. [Trent]" (1367) "The Church which is the body of Christ participates in the offering of her Head. With him, she herself is offered whole and entire." (1368) "Since he has the ministry of Peter in the Church, the POPE is associated with every celebration of the Eucharist, wherein he is named as the sign and servant of the unity of the universal Church." (1369) "'It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered.' [St. John Chrysostom]" (1375) "'Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God...that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood.' [Trent; cf. Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22; Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24]" (1376)
"The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ." [cf. Trent] (1377) "[The] tabernacle should be located in an especially worthy place in the church and should be constructed in such a way that it emphasizes and manifests the truth of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament." (1379) "'The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship...Let our adoration never cease.' [JP II]" (1380) "The Eastern Churches that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church...yet 'possess true sacraments, above all--by apostolic succession--the priesthood and the Eucharist.' [Vat II]" (1399) "Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, 'especially because of the lack of the sacrament of orders...have not preserved the genuine and total reality of the Eucharistic mystery.' [Vat II] It is for this reason that Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible for the Catholic Church." (1400) "As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead." (1414) "Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace." (1415) "Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart. [cf. Roman Catechism]" (1431) "God must give man a new heart. [cf. Ezek 36:26-27]" (1432) "'Individual, integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to reconcile themselves with God and the Church, unless physical or moral impossibility excuses from this kind of confession...' [ORDO PAENITENTIAE] [Christ] personally addresses every sinner: 'My son, your sins are forgiven.' [Mk 2:5]" (1484)
""Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church 'a kingdom, priests for his God and Father.' [Rev 1:6; cf. Rev 5:9- 10; 1 Pet 2:5,9]" (1546) "[The] ministerial priesthood is at the service of the common priesthood." (1547) "'The Lord said clearly that concern for his flock was proof of love for him.' [St. John Chrysostom]" (1551) "The college of bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ's return. The Church recognizes herself to be bound this choice made by the Lord himself. For this reason the ordination of women is not possible." (1577) "Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of 'the wedding-feast of the Lamb.' [cf. Gen 1:26-27; Rev 19:7,9]" (1602) "On the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign--at his mother's request--during a wedding feast. [cf. Jn 2:1-11]" (1613) "The entire Christian life bears the mark of...spousal love." (1617) "Esteem of virginity for the sake of the kingdom and the Christian understanding of marriage are inseparable, and they reinforce each other: 'Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent.' [St. John Chrysostom]" (1620) "'My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.' [Ps 84:2]" (1770) "By faith 'man entrusts his whole self freely to God...' [Vat II] [and living] faith 'work[s] through charity.' [Rom 1:17; Gal 5:6]" (1814) "'Love is the fulfillment of all our works.' [St. Augustine]" (1829)
"Human society must primarily be considered something pertaining to the spiritual.' [John XXIII]" (1886) "The 'choice of the political regime and the appointment of rulers are left to the free decision of the citizens' [Vat II]" (1901); "there 'is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.' [Rom 13:1]" (1918) "The dignity of the human person requires the pursuit of the common good." (1926) "'I have willed that one should need another and that all should be my ministers in distributing the graces and gifts they have received from me.' [St. Catherine of Siena] (1937) "'[We] ought always to pray and not lose heart.' [Lk 18:1]" (2098) "'Every action done so as to cling to God in communion and holiness, and thus achieve blessedness, is a true sacrifice.' [St. Augustine]" (2099) "The right to religious liberty can of itself be neither unlimited nor limited only by a 'public order' conceived in a positivist or naturalist manner. [cf. Pius VI]" (2109) "Before Pilate, Christ proclaims that he 'has come into the world, to bear witness to the truth.' [Jn 18:37]" (2471) "MARTYRDOM is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith." (2473) "The Church has painstakingly collected the records of those who persevered to the end in witnessing to their faith. [cf. Martyrium Polycarpi]" (2474) "The 'pure in heart' are promised that they will see God face to face and be like him. [cf. 1 Cor 13:12; 1 Jn 3:2]" (2519) "[In] naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times)." (2562) "Prayer is bound up with human history, for it is the relationship with God in human events." (2568) "Prayer is lived in the first place beginning with the realities of creation [cf. Gen 4:4,26; 5:24]...Noah's offering is pleasing to God, who blesses him and though him all creation [Gen 6:9; 8:20-9:17][...]In his indefectible covenant with every living creature [Gen 9:8-16], God has always called people to prayer. But it is above all beginning with our father Abraham that prayer is revealed in the Old Testament." (2569)
"[God] calls Moses to be his messenger, an associate in his compassion..." (2575) " 'entrusted with all my house.' [Num 12:7]" (2576) "[After their apostasy] Moses 'stands in the breach' before God in order to save the people. [Ex 32-34] (2577) "In their 'one to one' encounters with God, the prophets draw light and strength for their mission. Their prayer is not flight from this unfaithful world, but rather attentiveness to The Word of God. At times their prayer is an argument or a complaint, but it is always an intercession that awaits and prepares for the intervention of the Savior God, the Lord of history. [cf. Am 7:2,5; Isa 6:5,8,11; Jer 1:6; 15:15-18; 20:7-18]" (2584) "From the time of David to the coming of the Messiah texts appearing in [the] sacred books show a deepening in prayer for oneself in prayer for others. [Erza 9:6-15; Neh 1:4-11; Jon 2:3-10; Tob 3:11-16; Jdt 9:2-14]" (2585) "The words of the Psalmist, sung for God, both express and acclaim Lord's saving works; the same Spirit inspires both God's work and man's response. Christ will unite the two." (2587) "The Psalter's many forms of prayer take shape both in the liturgy of the temple and in the human heart." (2588) "Prayed and fulfilled in Christ, the Psalms are an essential and permanent element in the prayer of the Church." (2597)
"The Son of God who became Son of the Virgin learned to pray in his human heart. He learns to pray from his mother, who kept all the great things the Almighty had done and treasured them in her heart. [cf. Lk 1:49; 2:19; 2:51] He learns to pray in the words and rhythms of the prayer of his people...But his prayer springs from an otherwise secret source, as he intimates at the age of twelve: 'I must be in my Father's house.' [Lk 2:49]" (2599) "Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in FAITH." (2609) "It is at the hour of the New Covenant, at the foot of the cross, that Mary is heard as the Woman...the true 'Mother of all the living.'" (2618) "The prayers of the Virgin Mary, in her Fiat and Magnificat, are characterized by the generous offering of her whole being in faith." (2622) "Because God blesses the human heart, it can return and bless him who is the source of every blessing." (2645) "'O that TODAY you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts.' [Ps 95:7-8]" (2659) "Prayer in the events of each day and each moment is one of the secrets of the kingdom revealed to 'little children.'" (2660) "The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the HEART OF JESUS just as it invokes his holy name." (2669) "Mary...'shows the way'...and is herself 'the Sign' of the way, according to the traditional iconography of East and West." (2674) "The most appropriate places for prayer are personal or family oratories, monasteries, places of pilgrimage, and above all the church, which is the proper place for liturgical prayer for the parish community and the privileged place for Eucharistic adoration." (2696) "Prayer is the life of the new heart..." (2697) [and] "is internalized to the extent that we become aware of him 'to whom we speak.' [St. Teresa of Avila]" (2704) "Contemplative prayer is a COVENANT relationship established by God within our hearts." (2713)
"Since the heart of the Son seeks only what pleases the Father, how could the prayer of the children of adoption be centered on the gifts rather than the Giver?" (2740) "Praying to our Father should develop in us two fundamental dispositions...THE DESIRE TO BECOME LIKE HIM...[St. John Chrysostom] (2784) [and] A HUMBLE AND TRUSTING HEART that enables us 'to turn and become like children' [Mt 18:3]: for it is to 'little children' that the Father is revealed. [Mt 11:25]" (2785) "It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense; but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession. [cf. Mt 18:23-35]" (2843) "'For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' [Mt 6:21]" (2848) "By asking 'hallowed be thy name' we enter into God's plan, the sanctification of his name--revealed first to Moses and then in Jesus--by us and in us, in every nation and in each man." (2858)
