Catechism index

1206 LITURGICAL DIVERSITY AND THE UNITY OF THE MYSTERY "Liturgical diversity can be a source of enrichment, but it can also provoke tensions, mutual misunderstandings, and even schisms. In this matter it is clear that diversity must not damage unity. It …
1207 IN BRIEF It is fitting that liturgical celebration tends to express itself in the culture of the people where the Church finds herself, though without being submissive to it. Moreover, the liturgy itself generates …
1208 IN BRIEF The diverse liturgical traditions or rites, legitimately recognized, manifest the catholicity of the Church, because they signify and communicate the same mystery of Christ.
1209 IN BRIEF The criterion that assures unity amid the diversity of liturgical traditions is fidelity to apostolic Tradition, i e., the communion in the faith and the sacraments received from the apostles, a communion …
1210 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH Christ instituted the sacraments of the new law. There are seven: Baptism, Confirmation (or Chrismation), the Eucharist, Penance, the Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. the seven sacraments touch all …
1211 THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH Following this analogy, the first chapter will expound the three sacraments of Christian initiation; the second, the sacraments of healing; and the third, the sacraments at the service of communion and the …
1212 THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION The sacraments of Christian initiation - Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist - lay the foundations of every Christian life. "The sharing in the divine nature given to men through the grace of …
1213 THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), 4 and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through …
1214 I. What is This Sacrament Called? This sacrament is called Baptism, after the central rite by which it is carried out: to baptize (Greek baptizein) means to "plunge" or "immerse"; the "plunge" into the water symbolizes the catechumen's …
1215 I. What is This Sacrament Called? This sacrament is also called "the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no …
1216 I. What is This Sacrament Called? "This bath is called enlightenment, because those who receive this [catechetical] instruction are enlightened in their understanding . . . ." 8 Having received in Baptism the Word, "the true light that …
1217 II. Baptism in the Economy of Salvation In the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, during the blessing of the baptismal water, the Church solemnly commemorates the great events in salvation history that already prefigured the mystery of Baptism: Father, …
1218 In Baptism we use your gift of water, which you have made a rich symbol of the grace you give us in this sacrament. 11 Since the beginning of the world, water, so humble and wonderful a creature, has been the source of life and fruitfulness. Sacred Scripture sees it as "oveshadowed" by the Spirit of God: …
1219 making them the wellspring of all holiness. 13 The Church has seen in Noah's ark a prefiguring of salvation by Baptism, for by it "a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water": 14 The waters of the great …
1220 that make an end of sin and a new beginning of goodness. 15 If water springing up from the earth symbolizes life, the water of the sea is a symbol of death and so can represent the mystery of the cross. By this symbolism Baptism …
1221 that make an end of sin and a new beginning of goodness. 15 But above all, the crossing of the Red Sea, literally the liberation of Israel from the slavery of Egypt, announces the liberation wrought by Baptism: You freed the children of Abraham from …
1222 to be an image of the people set free in Baptism. 16 Finally, Baptism is prefigured in the crossing of the Jordan River by which the People of God received the gift of the land promised to Abraham's descendants, an image of eternal life. …
1223 to be an image of the people set free in Baptism. 16 All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Christ Jesus. He begins his public life after having himself baptized by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan. 17 After his resurrection …
1224 to be an image of the people set free in Baptism. 16 Our Lord voluntarily submitted himself to the baptism of St. John, intended for sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness." 19 Jesus' gesture is a manifestation of his self-emptying. 20 The Spirit …
1225 to be an image of the people set free in Baptism. 16 In his Passover Christ opened to all men the fountain of Baptism. He had already spoken of his Passion, which he was about to suffer in Jerusalem, as a "Baptism" with which …