Free Republic

Featured Term (selected at random):   SIMILITUDE Some likeness or resemblance of one to another. Similitudes are the basis of all teaching of revealed truth. We come to know, more or less, of the meaning of the mysteries of faith by means of comparison with things that are known by reason. Every truth of revelation is communicated to the world as a similitude, e.g., grace as life, sacraments as signs, the Church as a body, heaven as a kingdom. (Etym. Latin similitudo, likeness.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life....

Featured Term (selected at random):FREE CHURCHES Protestant denominations in the Congregational tradition. They were called Free Churches originally because of their emphasis on freedom from any binding creeds, but also because they believe that each church is essentially free from any ecclesiastical authority above the local congregation. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

October 12, 2011 Wednesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Rom 2:1-11 You, O man, are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment.For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself,since you, the judge, do the very same things.We know that the judgment of God on those who do such things is true.Do you suppose, then, you who judge those who engage in such thingsand yet do them yourself,that you will escape the judgment of God?Or do you hold his priceless kindness, forbearance, and patiencein low esteem, unaware that the kindness...

  Blessed Pope John XXIII On October 11, 2011, in Catholic Saint of the Day,   Although few people had as great an impact on the 20th century as Pope John XXIII, he avoided the limelight as much as possible. Indeed, one writer has noted that his “ordinariness” seems one of his most remarkable qualities.The firstborn son of a farming family in Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo in northern Italy, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was always proud of his down-to-earth roots. In Bergamo’s diocesan seminary, he joined the Secular Franciscan Order.After his ordination in 1904, Angelo returned to Rome for canon...

Featured Term (selected at random):CHAPTER HOUSE A building attached to a cathedral or monastery where certain meetings were held, business carried out, the martyrology read, and daily tasks assigned. the name arose from the practice of conducting the chapter of faults in this building. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

October 6, 2011   Thursday of the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Mal 3:13-20b You have defied me in word, says the LORD,yet you ask, "What have we spoken against you?"You have said, "It is vain to serve God,and what do we profit by keeping his command,And going about in penitential dressin awe of the LORD of hosts?Rather must we call the proud blessed;for indeed evildoers prosper,and even tempt God with impunity."Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another,and the LORD listened attentively;And a record book was written before himof those who fear the LORD...

Featured Term (selected at random):LA NEGRITA Shrine of Our Lady of the Angels at Cartago in Costa Rica. A small black statue of the Madonna and Child was found in 1635 by a young Negro girl who took it home, but the statue returned to where it was originally. This happened several times also when the parish priest tried to keep the statue in a locked receptacle in the rectory. The citizens finally built a shrine to house the statue, which was solemnly crowned in 1927. La Negrita is a famous place of pilgrimage for Costa Ricans. All items in...

October 3, 2011   Monday of the Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Jon 1:1:2:1-2, 11 This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;their wickedness has come up before me."But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish,paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish,away from the LORD. The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea,and in the furious tempest that...

Featured Term (selected at random):DISESTABLISHMENT Depriving a given religion of its right, privileges, or position as the established religion in a certain country. Applied especially to the disestablishment of the Anglican Church, which received the support through taxation of British subjects regardless of creed. The process of disestablishment is still going on in the British Commonwealth of Nations. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

September 24, 2011   Saturday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Zec 2:5-9, 14-15a I, Zechariah, raised my eyes and looked:there was a man with a measuring line in his hand.I asked, "Where are you going?"He answered, "To measure Jerusalem,to see how great is its width and how great its length." Then the angel who spoke with me advanced,and another angel came out to meet him and said to him,"Run, tell this to that young man:People will live in Jerusalem as though in open country,because of the multitude of men and beasts in her midst.But I...

Featured Term (selected at random):MATRIMONIAL JURISDICTION The Church's divinely authorized right to determine the conditions under which baptized persons may validly and/or licitly receive the sacrament of matrimony. Part of this jurisdiction is the right to determine who may witness the marriage and, if necessary, what dispensations are to be granted. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random):CROWN An emblem of royalty, honor, and victory. Found most frequently in representations of Christ as King, illustrative of his majestic power, and of Mary as Queen of Heaven, where she is crowned above all the angels and saints. A crown of glory in ecclesiastical usage symbolizes those saints who have won their race and are now reigning triumphant with Christ. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random):CHRISMATORY A three-compartment vessel for each of the three holy oils: chrism, oil of catechumens, and oil of the sick. The vessel is often inscribed with the Latin abbreviation for each holy oil: S.C. (sacrum chrisma), O.C. (oleum catechumenorum), and O.I. (oleum infirmorum). It has been in use since the Middle Ages. One set of these oils is kept on reserve in a cathedral, and smaller sets for use in a parish, hospital, or infirmary are kept locked in a cupboard in the sanctuary of each church. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John...

Featured Term (selected at random):BEADLE A minor church officer whose duties have varied over the centuries and in different localities. Under Gregory the Great a beadle was the "guardian of the church," who was to light the lamps or candles. Later he came to be an usher who led people into their seats, or an announcer who read messages to the congregation, or something of a bodyguard who preceded a bishop or other prelate to clear the way for his passage through a crowd. (Etym. Anglo-Saxon b_odan, to command, to bid.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John...

Featured Term (selected at random):STANDING A posture for various parts of the Eucharistic liturgy and the Divine Office. Since different countries have different customs, the episcopal conferences have given corresponding directives to the people. From time immemorial, however, standing has been customary during the reading of the Gospel and the recitation or singing of the Creed, the Preface, and Sanctus. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random):BEATI POSSIDENTES Blessed are the possessors, meaning that possession is nine tenths of the law. The law favors the possessor, whereas anyone else must prove his claim. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random):BOOK OF RUTH One of the protocanonical writings of the Old Testament, narrating the story of a Bethlehem family in the time of the Judges. Its heroine is Ruth, daughter-in-law of Naomi. Although Ruth is a Moabite, she marries Boaz, a Jew, and becomes the great-grandmother of King David, of whose family Christ was born. The purpose of the book was twofold: to preserve the edifying story of David's ancestry, and to witness to the practice of extraordinary filial piety, rewarded by God. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary,...

Featured Term (selected at random):PAPAL CROSS A symbol also referred to as the archiepiscopal cross, used more in art than in actual practice. Papal and archiepiscopal crosses are really crucifixes elevated on staffs. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Featured Term (selected at random):ABRAHAM Born in the twentieth or nineteenth century B.C., in Ur of the Chaldeans on the Euphrates River. His father, Terah, named him Abram. The family migrated to Haran, where Terah died (Genesis 11:26-31). At God's behest, Abram, his wife, Sarah, his nephew, Lot, and all their followers moved on to Canaan (Genesis 12:4). When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God made a covenant with him, changing his name to Abraham and promising to make him the "father of a multitude of nations . . . [Genesis 17:1-5] I will make you into nations and your...

September 7, 2011   Wednesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Col 3:1-11 Brothers and sisters:If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.When Christ your life appears,then you too will appear with him in glory. Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,and the greed that is idolatry.Because of these the wrath of God is coming...