CATECHISM OF SAINT POPE PIUS X
Coat of Arms of St. Pope Pius X
for: CATECHISM OF ST. POPE PIUS X
DEFINITION OF CATECHISM
A catechism is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from new Testament time to the present. Catechisms are doctrinal manuals often in the form of questions followed by answers to be memorized.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the catechism that is in most widespread use among Catholics today.
It is the official Catechism of the Church.
For Catholics, all the canonical books of the bible (including the deuterocanonical books), the tradition of the Church and the interpretation of these by the Magisterium constitute the complete and best resource for fully attaining to God's revelation to mankind. Catholics believe that Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition preserved and interpreted by the Magisterium are both necessary for attaining to the fullest understanding of all of God's revelation.
The term catechist is most frequently used in Catholicism, often to describe a lay catechist or layperson with catechetical training who engages in such teaching and evangelization. This can be in both a parish church and mission contexts.
The catechism of Saint Pius X is a short catechism with questions and answers regarding the essentials of Catholic faith and doctrine. It was issued by Pope Pius X at the beginning of the twentieth century in Italian. This Pope's intention is that all Catholic faithful could understand easily their faith.
Teachings of the Catholic Church should begin with young children.
ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND ITS PRINCIPAL PARTS
Preliminary Lesson
1. Q. Are you a Christian?
A. Yes, I am a Christian, by the grace of God.
2. Q. Why do you say: By the grace of God?
A. I say: By the grace of God, because to be a
Christian is a perfectly gratuitous gift of
God, which we ourselves could not have merited.
3. Q. Who is a true Christian?
A. A true Christian is he who is baptized, who
believes and professes the Christian Doctrine,
and obeys the lawful pastors of the Church.
4. Q. What is Christine Doctrine?
A. Christian doctrine is the doctrine which Jesus
Christ our Lord taught us to show us the way of
salvation.
5. Q. Is it necessary to learn the doctrine taught by
Jesus Christ?
A. It certainly is necessary to learn the doctrine
taught by Jesus Christ, and those who fail to do so
are guilty of a grave breach of duty
6. Q. Are parents and guardians bound to send their
children and those dependent on them to
catechism?
A. Parents and guardians are bound to see that their
children and dependents learn Christian Doctrine,
and they are guilty before God if they neglect this
duty
7. Q. From whom ae we to receive and learn Christian
Doctrine?
A. We are to receive and learn Christian Doctrine from
the Holy Catholic Church.
8. Q. How are we certain that the Christian Doctrine
which we receive from the Holy Catholic Church
is really true?
A. We are certain that the doctrine which we receive
from the Holy catholic Church is true, because Jesus
Christ, the divine Author of this doctrine, committed
it through His apostles to the Church, which He
founded and made the infallible teacher of all
men, promising her His divine assistance until the
end of time.
9. Q. Are there other proofs of the truth of
Christian Doctrine?
A. The truth of Christian doctrine is also
shown by the eminent sanctity of numbers
who have professed it and who still profess
it, by the heroic fortitude of the martyrs,
by its marvelous and rapid propagation in
the world, and by its perfect preservation
throughout so many centuries of
ceaseless and varied struggles.
10. Q. What and how many are the principal and
most necessary parts of Christine Doctrine?
A. The principal and most necessary parts of
Christian Doctrine are four: The Creed,
the Our Father, The Ten Commandments,
and The Sacraments.
11. Q. What does the Creed teach?
A. The Creed teaches us the principal articles
of our holy faith.
12. Q. What does the Our Father teach us?
A. The Our Father teaches us all that we are to hope from God, and all we are to ask of
Him.
13. Q. What do the Commandments teach us?
A. The Commandments teach us all that we
are to do to please God - all of which is
summed up in loving God above all things
and our neighbor as ourselves for the
love of God.
14. Q. What does the doctrine of the Sacraments
teach us?
A. The doctrine of the Sacraments sows us the
nature and right use of those means which
Jesus Christ has instituted to remit our sins
give us His grace, infuse into and increase in
us the virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
THE APOSTLE'S CREED
1. Q. What is the first part of Christian Doctrine?
A. The first part of Christian Doctrine is the Symbol
of the Apostles, commonly called the Creed.
2. Q. Why do you call the Creed the Symbol of the
Apostles?
A. The Creed is called the Symbol of the Apostles
because it is a summary of the truths of faith taught
by the Apostles.
3. Q. How many articles are there in the Creed?
A. There are twelve articles in the Creed.
THE LORD'S PRAYER
1. Q. Which is the most excellent of all vocal prayers?
A. The most excellent of all vocal prayers is that which
Jesus Christ taught us, that is to say, the Our Father.
2. Q. Why is the Our Father the most excellent of all prayers?
A. The Our Father is the most excellent of all prayers
because Jesus Christ Himself composed it and taught it to
us; because it contains clearly and in a few words all we
can hope for from God; and because it is the standard
and model of all other prayers.
3. Q. Is the Our Father also the most efficacious of prayers?
A. Yes, it is also the most efficacious of prayers, because
it is the most acceptable to God, since in it we pray in
the very words His Divine Son taught us.
4. Q. Why is the Our Father called the Lord's Prayer?
The Our Father is called the Lord's Prayer, precisely
because Jesus Christ our Lord has taught it to us with
His own lips.
5. Q. How many petitions are there in the Our Father?
A. In the Our Father there are seven petitions proceeded by
an introduction.
THE HAIL MARY
1. Q. What prayer do we usually say after the Our Father
A. After the Our Father we say the Angelic Salutation,
that is, the Hail Mary, through which we have
recourse to the Blessed Virgin.
2. Q. Why is the Hail Mary called the Angelic Salutation
A. The Hail Mary is called the Angelic Salutation,
because it begins with the salutation addressed
by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary.
3. Q. Whose are the words of the Hail Mary?
A. The words of the Hail Mary are partly the Archangel
Gabriel's, partly Saint Elizabeth's, and partly the
Church's.
4. Q. Which are the words of the Archangel Gabriel?
A. The words of the Archangel Gabriel are these: Hail,
full of grace. The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou
among women.
5. Q. Which are the words of Saint Elizabeth?
A. The words of Saint Elizabeth are these: Blessed art
thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy
womb.
6. Q. What form of devotion to Mary does the Church
recommend in a very special manner?
A. The devotion to the Blessed Virgin which the Church
specially recommends is the Holy Rosary.
SACRAMENTS
1. Q. What is meant by the word sacrament?
A. By the word sacrament is meant a sensible and efficacious
sign of grace, instituted by Christ to sanctify our souls.
2. Q. How many sacraments are there, and what are they called?
A. There are seven sacraments: Baptism, Penance, Eucharist,
Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders and Extreme Unction.
3. Q. What is necessary to constitute a sacrament?
A. To constitute a sacrament it is necessary to have the matter, the form,
and the minister, who must have the intention to do what the Church does.
4. Q. What is the matter of the sacraments?
A. The matter of the sacraments is the sensible thing made use of in effecting the
sacrament; such as, for example, natural water in Baptism, oil and balsam in
Confirmation.
5. Q. What is the form of the sacraments?
A. The form of the sacraments is the words which are pronounced in order to effect
the sacrament.
6. Q. Who is the minister of the sacraments?
A. The minister of the sacraments is the person who administers or confers the
sacrament.
THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND OF THE CHURCH
1. Q. How many Commandments of God's Law are there?
A. There are Ten Commandments of God's Law.
2. Q. Why are the Commandments of God so named?
A. The Commandments of God are so named because God Himself has stamped them
on the soul of every man; promulgated them, engraved on two tables of stone, on
Mount Sinai, in the Old Law; and Jesus Christ has confirmed them in the New Law.
3. Q. Are we bound to observe the Commandments?
A. Yes, we are bound to observe the Commandments, because we are all bound to live
according to the will of God who created us, and because a serious transgression
against even one of them is enough to merit hell.
4. Q. Are we able to observe the Commandments?
A. Yes, without doubt we are able to observe God's Commandments, because God never
commands anything that is impossible, and because He gives grace to observe them
to those who ask it as they should.
5. Q. What, in a general way, should we consider in each of the Commandments?
A. In each of the Commandments we should consider its positive part and its negative
part, that is, what it commands and what it forbids.
The above is a small sample of the Catechism of Saint Pope Pius X, and is only meant as an
introductory primer for the more extensive study of the Catechism as a means of acquainting oneself with all that is taught by the Roman Catholic Church.
Our goal is to initiate or renew one's interest of the doctrinal truths of the Church and not to outline in detail every point that constitutes the teachings of the Church.
To view the entire Catechism of Saint Pope Pius X please >
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of the Roman Catholic Church please >
