Sacraments vocabulary

Question 1

Actual graces

Answer 1

God’s interventions and support for us in the everyday moments of our lives.

Question 2

Blessing

Answer 2

A prayer asking that God care for a particular person, place, or activity

Question 3

contemplation

Answer 3

A form of wordless prayer in which one is fully focused on the presence of God

Question 4

efficacious

Answer 4

The power something holds to cause a desired effect.

Question 5

ex opere operato

Answer 5

The Latin phrase that literally means “by the work worked” or, according to the Catechism, “by the very fact of the action’s being performed” (CCC, 1128), indicating that Sacraments are efficacious.

Question 6

freedom

Answer 6

The ability to choose for the good; in light of the Sacraments, true freedom comes from the positive response to God’s grace.

Question 7

Grace

Answer 7

The free and undeserved gift of God’s loving and active presence in the universe and in our lives, empowering us to respond to his call and to live as his adopted sons and daughters.

Question 8

intercession

Answer 8

A prayer on behalf of another person or group

Question 9

Liturgy of the Hours

Answer 9

Also known as the Divine Office, the official, public, daily prayer of the Catholic Church. The Divine Office provides standard prayers, Scripture readings, and reflections at regular hours throughout the day.

Question 10

meditation

Answer 10

A form of prayer involving a variety of methods and techniques in which one engages the mind, imagination, and emotions to focus on a particular truth, biblical theme, or other spiritual matter.

Question 11

petition

Answer 11

A prayer form in which one asks God for help and forgiveness.

Question 12

popular piety

Answer 12

Religious reverence or devotion of the people, including customs such as novenas (nine days of prayer), honoring or requesting the intercession of a particular saint, praying the Rosary, and so on.

Question 13

praise

Answer 13

A prayer of acknowledgment that God is God, giving God glory not for what he does, but simply because he is.

Question 14

Prayer

Answer 14

Lifting up of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from him. The five basic forms of prayer are blessing, praise, petition, thanksgiving, and intercession. In prayer we communicate with God in a relationship of love.

Question 15

Redemption

Answer 15

From the Latin redemptio, meaning “a buying back”; referring, in the Old Testament, to Yahweh’s deliverance of Israel and, in the New Testament, to Christ’s deliverance of all Christians from the forces of sin.

Question 16

Sacrament

Answer 16

An efficacious and visible sign of God’s grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The Seven Sacraments are Baptism, the Eucharist, Confirmation, Penance and Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Matrimony, and Holy Orders.

Question 17

sacramental economy

Answer 17

The communication or dispensation of the fruits of Christ’s Paschal Mystery in the celebration of the Church’s sacramental liturgy.

Question 18

Sacramentals

Answer 18

The communication or dispensation of the fruits of Christ’s Paschal Mystery in the celebration of the Church’s sacramental liturgy.

Question 19

Sanctifying grace

Answer 19

The grace that heals our human nature wounded by sin and restores us to friendship with God by giving us a share in the divine life of the Trinity. It is a supernatural gift of God, infused into our souls by the Holy Spirit, that continues the work of making us holy.

Question 20

Sign

Answer 20

A word, object, or gesture that refers to a specific thing or action; however, when used with regard to Sacraments, the word sign becomes interchangeable with the word symbol.

Question 21

Symbol

Answer 21

An object or action that points us to another reality. It leads us to look beyond our senses to consider a deeper mystery.

Question 22

Thanksgiving

Answer 22

A prayer of gratitude for the gift of life and the gifts of life.

Question 23

Local prayer

Answer 23

A prayer that is spoken aloud or silently, such as the Lord’s Prayer. It is one of the three
expressions of prayer, the other two being meditation and contemplation.

Question 24

Walking ritual

Answer 24

Walking together, as in a procession or pilgrimage, symbolic of the journey of life and our solidarity with others on this journey.