glossary


 * __Cornelia Connelly Glossary__**

**anti-Papist**: any person or ideology antagonistic toward the head of the Catholic Church

**Benefacto**r: one that makes a gift or bequest

**canonization process**: Church rules regarding the process through which an individual in the Catholic Church is made a saint

**Charism**: an extraordinary power (as of healing) given a Christian by the Holy Spirit for the good of the church

**The Church**: In this course, “The Church” will refer specifically to the Catholic Church headed by the Pope **Congregation**: a religious community whose members engage in active ministries like teaching in schools, staffing parishes, and caring for the sick **Constitution**: the basic principles and laws of a religious society that determine the powers and duties of the governing body and guarantee certain rights to the people in it

**convent**: The building or buildings in which a community of religious women live **convert**: One who with the help of divine grace undergoes a significant spiritual change. Often refers to a change from one religion to another

**diocesan order:** A group of the faithful under a bishop's authority working with him in serving the needs of a diocese **Habit**: the clothing a nun wears **Incarnation**: the union of divinity with humanity in Jesus

**Ministry:** the work done by members of the church (ie. the preaching of the word or the celebration of the sacraments)

**Novice**: A person formally admitted to a religious institute to prepare for eventual religious profession. The purpose of the noviceship is also to help superiors to better know the candidates and therefore be able to determine their suitability for the religious life.

**Nun****: ** a woman belonging to a religious order under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience

O **rders:** Religious communities recognized and approved by the Church **Oxford Movement****: ** a High Church movement within the Church of England begun at Oxford in 1833. The movement, the members of which were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Catholic traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy and theology.

**postulant:** A person taking the first step in religious life before entering the novitiate and receiving the habit. The purpose of the postulancy is to provide for the individual an experience of the religious life

**priests**: men who are specially ordained to consecrate and offer the body and blood of Christ in the Mass

**Professed:** Those persons in a religious community who have been admitted to the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience **rule**: refers to the Constitution of a religious society

**Spiritual exercises**: the period of silence and prayerful reflection practiced annually (or more often) in a retreat, particularly the Spiritual Exercises by St. Ignatius Loyola

**Spiritual Works of Mercy**: The traditional seven forms of Christian charity in favor of the soul or spirit of one's neighbor (converting the sinner, instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, comforting the sorrowful, bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving injuries, and praying for the living and the dead)

**Venerable**:Step in the Canonization process. Title given to the Servants of God after the state of their heroic virtue or martyrdom has been proved and a solemn decree to that effect has been signed by the Pope

**Vocation:** a divine call to the religious life (an entry into the priesthood or a religious order)

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// Quick View – Catholic Terms and Definitions // []

// United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Catechism of the Catholic Church // http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/glossary.shtml#c