Table of Contents
Preface 11
Abbreviations 17
Introductory Material 19
1 Some History: Vigils, Matins, Office of Readings 21
Appendix: A Chronological List of Readings from the Fathers and Saints 37
2 Reading the Bible with the Saints 43
Authors and Their Writings 55
A Topical Concordance Following the Catechism of the Catholic Church 169
Part 1 The Profession of Faith
Section 1 "I Believe"-"We Believe" 173
Chapter 1 Man's Capacity, for God 173
Chapter 2 God Comes to Meet Man 185
Article 1 The Revelation of God 185
Article 2 The Transmission of Divine Revelation 193
Article 3 Sacred Scripture 197
Chapter 3 Man's Response to God 203
Article 1 Believe 203
Article 2 We Believe 211
Section 2 The Profession of the Christian Faith 215
Chapter 1 Believe in God the Father 215
Article 1 "I Believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth" 215
Paragraph 1 I Believe in God 215
Paragraph 2 The Father 217
Paragraph 3 The Almighty 225
Paragraph 4 The Creator 226
Paragraph 5 Heaven and Earth 231
Paragraph 6 Man 234
Paragraph 7 The Fall 237
Chapter 2 Believe in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God 239
Article 2 "And in Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord" 239
Article 3 "Who was Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary" 247
Paragraph 1 The Son of God Became Man 247
Paragraph 2 "Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary" 260
Paragraph 3 The Mysteries of Christ's Life 271
I Christ's Whole Life Is Mystery 271
II The Mysteries of Jesus' Infancy and Hidden Life 274
III The Mysteries of Jesus' Public Life 279
Article 4 "Jesus Christ Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was Crucified, Died, and Was Buried" 286
Article 5 "He Descended into Hell; On the Third Day He Rose Again" 307
Paragraph 1 Christ Descended into Hell 307
Paragraph 2 On the Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead 308
Article 6 "He Ascended into Heaven, and Is Seated at the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty" 316
Article 7 "From There He Will Come to Judge the Living and the Dead" 319
Chapter 3 Believe in the Holy Spirit 322
Article 8 "I Believe in the Holy Spirit" 322
Article 9 "I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church" 341
Paragraph 1 The Church in God's Plan 341
Paragraph 2 The Church-People of God, Body of Christ, Temple of the Holy Spirit 349
Paragraph 3 The Church Is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic 359
Paragraph 4 Christ's Faithful-Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life 373
Paragraph 5 The Communion of Saints 388
Paragraph 6 Mary-Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church 394
Article 10 "I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins" 405
Article 11 "I Believe in the Resurrection of the Body" 410
Article 12 "I Believe in Life Everlasting" 421
Part 2 The Celebration of the Christian Mystery
Section 1 The Sacramental Economy 435
Section 2 The Seven Sacraments of the Church 445
Chapter 1 The Sacraments of Christian Initiation 445
Article 1 The Sacrament of Baptism 445
Article 2 The Sacrament of Confirmation 460
Article 3 The Sacrament, of the Eucharist 463
Chapter 2 The Sacraments of Healing 481
Article 4 The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation 481
Article 5 The Anointing of the Sick 489
Chapter 3 The Sacraments, at the Service of Communion 491
Article 6 The Sacrament of Holy Orders 491
Article 7 The Sacrament of Matrimony 509
Part 3 Life in Christ
Section 1 Man's Vocation: Life in the Spirit 513
Chapter 1 The Dignity of the Human Person 513
Article 1 Man: The Image of God 513
Article 2 Our Vocation to Beatitude 517
Article 3 Man's Freedom 526
Article 5 The Morality of the Passions 529
Article 6 Moral Conscience 533
Article 7 The Virtues 535
Article 8 Sin 549
Chapter 2 The Human Community 556
Chapter 3 God's Salvation: Law and Grace 562
Section 2 The Ten Commandments 573
Chapter 1 "You Shall Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart, and With All Your Soul, and With All Your Mind" 573
Article 1 The First Commandment 573
Article 2 The Second Commandment 580
Article 3 The Third Commandment 585
Chapter 2 "You Shall Love Your Neighbor as Yourself" 587
Article 4 The Fourth Commandment 587
Article 5 The Fifth Commandment 593
Article 6 The Sixth Commandment 596
Article 7 The Seventh Commandment 598
Article 8 The Eighth Commandment 607
Article 9 The Ninth Commandment 618
Article 10 The Tenth Commandment 620
Part 4 Christian Prayer
Section 1 Prayer in the Christian Life 625
Chapter 1 The Revelation of Prayer 625
Article 1 In the Old Testament 625
Article 2 In the Fullness of Time 630
Article 3 In the Age of the Church 636
Chapter 2 The Tradition of Prayer 642
Article 1 At the Wellsprings of Prayer 642
Article 2 The Way of Prayer 645
Article 3 Guides for Prayer 651
Chapter 3 The Life of Prayer 655
Article 1 Expressions of Prayer 655
Article 2 The Battle of Prayer 659
Section 2 The Lord's Prayer: "Our Father!" 669
Article 1 "The Summary of the Whole Gospel" 669
Article 2 "Our Father Who Art in Heaven" 670
Article 3 The Seven Petitions 674
For Further Reading 689
Index of Proper Names 711
Index of Topics 719