Baltimore Catechism No. 1

The Baltimore Catchecism, [1891], at sacred-texts.com

LESSON FIRST: ON THE END OF MAN

1. Q. Who made the world?
A. God made the world.

2. Q. Who is God?
A. God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things.

3. Q. What is man?
A. Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God.

6. Q. Why did God make you?
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.

9. Q. What must we do to save our souls?
A. To save our souls, we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in
Him, and love Him with all our heart.

10. Q. How shall we know the things which we are to believe?
A. We shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic Church, through which God speaks to us.

11. Q. Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?
A. We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles' Creed.

12. Q. Say the Apostles' Creed.

LESSON SECOND: ON GOD AND HIS PERFECTIONS

13. Q. What is God?
A. God is a spirit infinitely perfect.

14. Q. Had God a beginning
A. God had no beginning; He always was and He always will be.

15. Q. Where is God?
A. God is everywhere.

16. Q. If God is everywhere, why do we not see Him?
A. We do not see God, because He is a pure spirit and cannot be seen with bodily eyes.

17. Q. Does God see us?
A. God sees us and watches over us.

18. Q. Does God know all things?
A. God knows all things, even our most secret thoughts, words, and actions.

19. Q. Can God do all things?
A. God can do all things, and nothing is hard or impossible to Him.

20. Q. Is God just, holy, and merciful?
A. God is all just, all holy, all merciful, as He is infinitely perfect.

LESSON THIRD: ON THE UNITY AND TRINITY OF GOD

21. Q. Is there but one God?
A. Yes; there is but one God.

22. Q. Why can there be but one God?
A. There can be but one God, because God, being supreme and infinite, cannot have an equal.

23. Q. How many Persons are there in God?
A. In God there are three Divine Persons, really distinct, and equal in all things-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

24. Q. Is the Father God?
A. The Father is God and the first Person of the Blessed Trinity.

25. Q. Is the Son God?
A. The Son is God and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

26. Q. Is the Holy Ghost God?
A. The Holy Ghost is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.

27. Q. What is the Blessed Trinity?
A. The Blessed Trinity is one God in three Divine Persons.

29. Q. Are the three Divine Persons one and the same God?
A. The three Divine Persons are one and the same God, having one and the same Divine nature.

LESSON FOURTH: ON THE ANGELS AND OUR FIRST PARENTS

34. Q. Which are the chief creatures of God?
A. The chief creatures of God are men and angels.

35. Q. What are angels?
A. Angels are bodiless spirits created to adore and enjoy God in heaven.

39. Q. Who were the first man and woman?
A. The first man and woman were Adam and Eve.

40. Q. Were Adam and Eve innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God?
A. Adam and Eve were innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God.

43. Q. Did Adam and Eve remain faithful to God?
A. Adam and Eve did not remain faithful to God; but broke His command by eating the forbidden fruit.

44. Q. What befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin?
A. Adam and Eve on account of their sin lost innocence and holiness, and were doomed to misery and death.

45. Q. What evil befell us through the disobedience of our first parents?
A. Through the disobedience of our first parents we all inherit their sin and punishment, as we should have shared in their happiness if they had remained faithful.

47. Q. What is the sin called which we inherit from our first parents?
A. The sin which we inherit from our first parents is called original sin.

50. Q. Was any one ever preserved from original sin?
A. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merit of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her Immaculate Conception.

LESSON FIFTH: ON SIN AND ITS KINDS

51. Q. Is original sin the only kind of sin?
A. Original sin is not the only kind of sin; there is another kind of sin, which we commit ourselves, called actual sin.

52. Q. What is actual sin?
A. Actual sin is any willful thought, word, deed or omission contrary to the law of God.

53. Q. How many kinds of actual sin are there?
A. There are two kinds of actual sin-mortal and venial.

54. Q. What is mortal sin?
A. Mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God.

57. Q. What is venial sin?

A. Venial sin is a slight offense against the law of God in matters of less importance; or in matters of great importance it is an offence committed with out sufficient reflection or full consent of the will.

59. Q. Which are the chief sources of sin?
A. The chief sources of sin are seven: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth; and they are commonly called capital sins.

LESSON SIXTH: ON THE INCARNATION AND REDEMPTION

60. Q. Did God abandon man after he fell into sin?
A. God did not abandon man after he fell into sin, but promised him a Redeemer, who was to satisfy for man's sin and reopen to him the gates of heaven.

61. Q. Who is the Redeemer?
A. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind.

62. Q. What do you believe of Jesus Christ?
A. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, true God and true man.

69. Q. What do you mean by the Incarnation?
A. By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man.

70. Q. How was the Son of God made man?
A. The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

74. Q. On what day was the Son of God conceived and made man?
A. The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation day-the day on which the angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God.

75. Q. On what day was Christ born?
A. Christ was born on Christmas day in a stable at Bethlehem, over nineteen hundred years ago.

LESSON SEVENTH: ON OUR LORD'S PASSION, DEATH, RESURRECTION, AND ASCENSION

78. Q. What did Jesus Christ Suffer?
A. Jesus Christ suffered a bloody sweat, a cruel scourging, was crowned with thorns, and was crucified.

79. Q. On what clay did Christ die?
A. Christ died on Good Friday.

83. Q. Why did Christ suffer and die?
A. Christ suffered and died for our sins

89. Q. On what day did Christ rise from the dead?
A. Christ rose from the dead, glorious and immortal, on Easter Sunday, the third day after His death.

91. Q. After Christ had remained forty days on earth, whither did He go?
A. After forty days Christ ascended into heaven, and the day on which He ascended into heaven is called Ascension day.

LESSON EIGHTH: ON THE HOLY GHOST AND HIS DESCENT UPON THE APOSTLES

• De-scent', the act of coming down.
• En-a'ble, to make able.
• En-light'en, to make them understand better.
• Pen'te-cost, the fiftieth day after Easter.
• Preach, declare publicly, spread by word of mouth.
• Sanc'ti-fy, to make holy.
• Strength'en, make strong.
• Whit'sun-day, white Sunday.

94. Q. Who is the Holy Ghost?
A. The Holy Ghost is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.

97. Q. On what day did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?
A. The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles ten days after the Ascension of our Lord; and the day on which He came down upon the Apostles is called Whitsunday, or Pentecost.

 99. Q. Who sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles?
A. Our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles.

100. Q. Why did Christ send the Holy Ghost?
A. Christ sent the Holy Ghost to sanctify His Church, to enlighten and strengthen the Apostles, and to enable them to preach the Gospel.