A Catechumen’s Test – the Answers

Well, my friend is now my brother in Christ, and has made his third Communion, which is a very happy-making thing to see. His baptism brought a tear to my eye and was proof that great show is not always as moving as the sight of a humble soul in prayer.

Here, following a reader’s request, is the final version of the test I gave him before the baptism, with the answers. (I hasten to add, for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with adult baptism, that a godmother-set test isn’t standard Catholic practice. This happened because I’m choleric and he’s patient.)

1. How many natures does God have? One.
2. How many persons are there in God? Three.
3. Name the person or persons in God. Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
4. Who is generated, and by whom? The Son, by the Father.
5. Who is spirated, and by whom? The Holy Spirit, by the Father and the Son. (This ‘and’, by the way, was a major cause of the schism between East and West.)
6. Define ‘nature.’ ‘That which makes a thing be such.’
7. Define ‘person.’ ‘The owner and exerciser of be,’ or ‘An intellectual supposit residing in a nature.’
8. Can we know and prove the existence of God by reason alone? Yes. The belief that philosophy can demonstrate that it is reasonable to believe in God but cannot actually prove the existence of God is a heresy called Fideism, and was condemned at Vatican I.
9. Can we know the existence of the Blessed Trinity by reason? No. For this, revelation was necessary.
10. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
11. What is Jesus Christ? He is God and man.
12. How many natures does Our Lord have? Two.
13. How many persons are there in Our Lord? One.
14. Who is the father of Jesus? God the Father (i.e not St Joseph!)
15. Who is the mother of Jesus? Our Lady.
16. What is the Hypostatic Union? It is the union of Our Lord’s human and divine natures.
17. How many sacraments are there? Seven.
18. Name the sacraments. (I probably don’t need to type these out!)
19. What are the ends of the Sacrament of Matrimony? (i.e. what is it for?) The sanctification of the spouses and the procreation of children. But the sanctification comes first.
20. What is the Eucharist? The Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. (This is why Communion under both kinds isn’t actually necessary for recieving the Precious Blood; you recieve It in the Eucharist.)
21. Who can go to Holy Communion? A Catholic in a state of grace.
22. Under what circumstances must you abstain from Holy Communion? When you are not in a state of grace, when you have not heard enough of the Mass or when you have not observed the Eucharistic fast.
23. When (time of year) must you go to Holy Communion? During the season of the Easter duty. Now I forget when that is and have to look it up – think it’s Ash Wednesday to Pentecost.
24. Under what circumstances must you go to Confession? When you’re in a state of mortal sin.
25. When (time of year) must you go to Confession? During the season of the Easter duty.
26. What is the Easter Duty? As per my slack answer to Question 23.
27. What is obligatory, every Friday, under pain of sin? Penance.
28. What is obligatory, every Sunday, under pain of mortal sin (except in cases of illness)? To hear Mass.
29. What is a Holy Day of Obligation? A Feast Day with the status of a Sunday, so that Mass attendance is binding under pain of mortal sin.
30. Name the Holy Days of Obligation in Australia. Assumption and Christmas.
31. What is the Mass? The Sacrifice of Calvary renewed upon the altar.
32. When was the first Mass? The Last Supper.
33. Turn over the page and write out the ‘Our Father.’ I don’t need to write this out for anyone!
34. Write out the ‘Hail Mary.’ Or this…
35. Write out the ‘Glory Be.’ Or this!
36. Who is the Exterminatrix of Heresies? Our Lady.
37. Who is the Immaculate Conception? Our Lady.
38. What is meant by ‘Immaculate Conception’? That Our Lady was preserved from sin from the moment of her conception. It has nothing to do with the virginal conception of Our Lord.
39. Did Our Lady’s physical signs of virginity remain intact during and after the birth of Christ? Yes, as a proof of the divinity of her Son.
40. How many other children did Our Lady have? None.
41. What is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin? Our Lady’s being taken to heaven body and soul.
42. What is original sin? An inherited absence of grace in the soul.
43. What is actual sin? A sin for which you have personal responsibility (i.e not inherited from Adam).
44. What is the penalty for mortal sin? The instant death of grace in the soul.
45. How is grace restored to a soul in mortal sin? By sacramental confession (though a perfect act of contrition may do the job if you find yourself in this parlous state at the time of death and sacramental confession is not available.)
46. What is the penalty for being in a state of mortal sin at the time of death? Damnation.
47. What is the penalty for venial sin, or the remains of sin, or incomplete reparation for sin at the time of death? A stint in Purgatory. (‘Stint’ is not the Church’s word for it – just mine!)
48. Is it possible to go to Heaven immediately after death? Yes.
49. Name the patron saint of a good death. (Clue: he’s also the patron of the Universal Church.) St Joseph.
50. Name the three forms of Baptism. Baptism by water, baptism by blood, baptism by desire.
51. What do you receive at Baptism? Sanctifying grace.
52. What is sanctifying grace? A created participation in the Divine life.
53. What is actual grace? I forget the official definition now – but it’s a temporary grace given for the sake of a particular action, as opposed to habitual grace, which remains in the soul.
54. Name the three theological virtues. Faith, Hope, Charity.
55. Name the four cardinal virtues. Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Fortitude.
56. What is the Church? The Mystical Body of Christ.
57. Does the Church have a soul? Yes. It is the Holy Spirit.
58. Where is the Church Militant? Earth.
59. Where is the Church Suffering? Purgatory.
60. Where is the Church Triumphant? Heaven.
61. Of which Apostle is the Pope the successor? Peter.
62. Over which Church or Churches (i.e. Militant, Suffering, Triumphant) does he preside? The Church Militant
63. What is infallibility? A negative protection against error (i.e the guarantee that the Pope will not make a heresy binding upon the faithful.)
64. When did public revelation end? With the Apocaplyse of St John.
65. How is the Word of God transmitted to us? Through Scripture and Tradition.
66. Define ‘soul.’ ‘The principle of life in a body.’ i.e that which makes a living body be alive. (A ‘principle’ is ‘that wherefrom another proceeds.’ So, yes, that means that means that animals and plants have souls. The plant has a vegetative soul with the powers of nutrition, growth and generation. The animal has what’s called a sensitive soul, with the powers of nutrition, growth, generation and sense-knowledge. Man has a spiritual soul, with all these powers, plus the spiritual powers of intellect and will.)
67. Define ‘spirit.’ ‘That which can be and do without a body.’
68. Does an angel have a soul? No.
69. Does an angel have a body? No.
70. Does a man have a soul or a spirit? He has a spiritual soul – his principle of bodily life is also capable of being and doing without the body.
71. Will the glorified body you receive at Judgement Day (assuming you go to Heaven!) be the body you have now, or a new body? It will be the body you have now, glorified.