“All Christians in any state or walk in life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity.” ^LG  “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” ^{Mt 5:48}  God wants us to be holy.  One must try to sanctify oneself in one’s place within the Church of Christ.

“[Lay Christians] live in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life, from which the very web of their existence is woven.” ^LG

“By their very vocation, they seek the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God.  They live in the world, that is, in each and in all of the secular professions and occupations.” ^LG

“Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy Spirit, are marvelously called and prepared, so that ever richer fruits of the Spirit may be produced in them.  For all their works, prayers, and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit – indeed even the hardships of life, if patiently borne – all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord.  And so, worshiping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their lives.” ^{CCC 901}

“Priests will acquire holiness in their own distinctive way by exercising their functions sincerely and tirelessly in the Spirit of Christ.  “Since they are ministers of the Word of God, they read and hear every day the Word of God, which they must teach to others.  If they strive at the same time to make it part of their own lives, they will become daily more perfect disciples of the Lord….” ^PO

In order to sanctify ourselves in the ordinary circumstances of our life, we need to grow in our spiritual life, especially through prayer, self-denial, and work.

Life of Prayer

“We learn to pray at certain moments by hearing the Word of the Lord and sharing in his Paschal mystery, but his Spirit is offered us at all times, in the events of each day, to make prayer spring up from us.” ^{CCC 2659}

“Prayer in the events of each day and each moment is one of the secrets of the kingdom reveal to ‘little children,; to the servants of Christ, to the poor of the Beatitudes.  It is right and good to pray so that the coming of the kingdom of justice and peace may influence the march of history, but it is just as important to bring the help of prayer into humble, everyday situations; all forms of prayer can be the leaven to which the Lord compares the kingdom.” ^{CCC 2660}

“But do not imagine that prayer is an action to be carried out and then forgotten.  The just man delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on his law day and night.  Through the night, I meditate on you’ and ‘my prayer comes to you like incense in the evening.’  Our whole day can be a time of prayer – from night to morning and from morning to night.” ^CPB

Life of Self-Denial

“The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross.  There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle.  Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.” ^{CCC 2015}  “Without mortification there is no happiness on earth.” ^FW

“Let us listen to our Lord: ‘ He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is dishonest also in much.’  It is as if he were saying to us: ‘Fight continuously in the apparently unimportant things which are to my mind important; fulfill your duty, punctually; smile at whoever needs cheering up, even though there is sorrow in your soul; devote the necessary time to prayer, without haggling; go to the help of anyone who looks for you; practice justice, and go beyond it with the grace of charity.'” ^CPB

Self-denial will be more precious if it is united to charity according to the teach of St. Leo the Great: “Let us give to virtue what we refuse to self-indulgence.  Let what we deny ourselves by fast be the refreshment of the poor.”

Life of Work

“Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another.  Hence work is a duty: ‘If any one will not work, let him not eat.’  Work honors the Creator’s gifts and the talents received from him.  It can also be redemptive.  By enduring the hardship of work in union with Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth and the one crucified on Calvary, man collaborates in a certain fashion with the Son of God in his redemptive work.  He shows himself to be a disciple of Christ by carrying the cross, daily, in the work he is called to accomplish.  Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ.” ^{CCC 2427}

“In work, the person exercises and fulfills in part the potential inscribed in his nature.  The primordial value of labor stems from man himself, its author and its beneficiary.  Work is for man, not man for work.

“Everyone should be able to draw from work the means of providing for his life and that of his family, and of serving the human community.” ^{CCC 2428}

We are required to know and to believe:

• That there is one supreme, eternal, infinite God, the Creator of Heaven and earth.
• That the good will be rewarded by him for ever in Heaven, and that the wicked who die unrepentant will be punished for ever in Hell.
• That in the Holy Trinity there are three Persons, coeternal, coequal: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
• That the Second Person of the Holy Trinity became man and died on the Cross to save us.
• The tenets of the Apostles Creed.
• In the Commandments of God and of the Church.
• That the Seven Sacraments were instituted by Christ to give us grace; especially, that Baptism is necessary and that the Eucharist is a pledge of our future Glory.
• That Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, which together form one sacred deposit of the Word of God, are entrusted to the Church.
• Whatever God teaches us by his Church, who in her teaching cannot deceive us or be deceived.

‘The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys [this] infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teach of all the faithful, he proclaims by a definitive act of doctrine pertaining to faith or morals…. The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter’s successor, they exercise the supreme ‘Magisterium,’ above all in an Ecumenical Council.  When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine ‘for belief as being devinely revealed’ and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions ‘must be adhered to with the obedience of faith.'” ^{CCC 891}

Do you want to be a good Christian?  The first of your battles will be to enter into and remain in the state of grace, to avoid any mortal sin.  And, then, because you want to love God above all things, you will also try not to commit venial sins.

The practice of some acts of piety throughout the day will help you to have a divine contemplative life in the midst of the daily routine.  The habitual performance of these acts will also be the foundation for growing in Christian virtues.  Most important is to be consistent in your daily schedule, in your spiritual game plan, so that you will live as a child of God.

Daily

• Get up at a fixed time, as early as possible.  Eight hours of sleep should be enough.  More than this or less than six hours of sleep is usually not healthy.
• Offer your day to God through the intercession of our Lady.
• Work with order and intensity during the day as a way of serving God.  Set goals and establish priorities in order to develop a practical schedule.  Sanctifying ordinary work is the goal of our life.
• Try to attend Mass, receiving Holy Communion, as often as possible.  This is the best sacrifice we can offer to God.  Prepare yourself for Mass by spending some time in prayer.
• Spend some time in mental prayer before the Blessed Sacrament (15 minutes, if possible).
• Pray the Angelus.  Traditionally, the Angelus is prayed at sunrise (6:00 A.M.), noon, and at sunset (6:00 P.M.).  (During Easter Time say the Regina Cæli instead.)
• Pray the Rosary, if possible, with your family, offering each decade for a specific intention.
• Do some other spiritual reading.  Start with the New Testament or some well-known spiritual book.  Ten to fifteen minutes is sufficient.
• Make a short examination of conscience at the end of the day before going to bed.  Two or three minutes is enough.  Follow these steps:  Humble yourself in the presence of God.  Tell him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”  Ask for light to acknowledge your defects and virtues and to see the dangers and opportunities of the day.  Ask for repentance, amendment, and encouragement.

Weekly

• Center all activities around the Holy Mass on Sunday, the Lord’s Day.  It is also a family day – for rest and spiritual growth.
• If you do not receive Holy Communion every day, receive at least on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation.
• Saturday is traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Honor her and say some special prayer, such as the Hail Holy Queen.

Monthly

• Go to Confession at least once a month.  It is the sacrament of joy.  Saint Pope John Paul II says: “God is always the one who is principally offended by sin – ‘I have sinned against You’ – and God alone can forgive.  He does so through the ministry of the priest in the Sacrament of Penance, which is the ordinary way of obtaining forgiveness and remission of mortal sins.  Every mortal sin must always be stated with its determining circumstances in an individual confession.”¹⁶
• Seek and follow the spiritual guidance of a wise, prudent, and knowledgeable priest.
• Spend a few hours in recollection, best done before the Blessed Sacrament.  Consider how you are directing your life toward God.

Yearly

• Spend two or three days each year in silence, speaking with God only.  A few days of retreat are necessary for the soul in the same way that the body needs a vacation.  It is a yearly opportunity for conversion.

Always

• Stay in the presence of God: be aware that he is always close to you.  Try to please Him in everything as a child tries to please his/her parents.
• Thank God for the graces that he constantly gives you.
• Do everything for the love of God: this is a purity intention.  Always purify your intention.  Make acts of contrition and atonement for your sins and sins of others.
• Try to live as you would like to die.  We shall die as we have lived.

Sunday	The Blessed Trinity Attend Mass and, if possible, receive Communion. Cultivate in your heart a great zeal for one and triune God.
Monday	The Souls in Purgatory Pray for the souls of your relatives, friends, and Godparents
Tuesday	Guardian Angels Pray often to your Guardian Angel asking for help.
Wednesday	Saint Joseph Pray to St. Joseph so that you may obtain a good and holy death.
Thursday	The Holy Eucharist Throughout the day say many Spiritual Communions. Make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.
Friday	The Passion and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ Using the Way of the Cross, meditate on the Passion and Death of our Lord.
Saturday	The Blessed Virgin Mary Pray the Rosary or practice another Marian devotion.

The [seven] sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us.  The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament.  They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.” ^{CCC 1131}

Baptism

By which we are born into the new life in Christ

The fruits of this Sacrament are:

• Remission of Original Sin.
• Birth into the new life by which man becomes and adoptive son of the Father, a member of Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit.
• Incorporation into the Church, the Body of Christ, and participation in the priesthood of Christ.
• The imprinting, on the soul, of an indelible spiritual sign, the character, which consecrates the baptized person for Christian worship.  Because of this character, Baptism cannot be repeated.

Confirmation

By which we are more perfectly bound to the Church and enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit

The fruits of this Sacrament are:

• An increase and deepening of baptismal grace.
• A deepening of one’s roots in the divine filiation, which makes one cry, “Abba, Father!”
• A firming of one’s unity with Christ.
• An increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
• A strengthening of one’s bond with the Church and close association with her mission.
• Special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the Faith by word and action as a true witness of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and to never be ashamed of the Cross.
• The imprinting, as in Baptism, of a spiritual mark or indelible character on the Christian’s soul.  Because of this character, one can receive this Sacrament only once in one’s life.

The Holy Eucharist

By which Christ associates his Church and all her members wit the sacrifice of the cross

The fruits of this Sacrament are:

• An increase in the communicant’s union with Christ.
• Forgiveness of venial sins.
• Preservation from grave sins.
• A strengthening of the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ
• A strengthening of the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.

Reconciliation or Penance

By which sins after Baptism are forgiven

The fruits of this Sacrament are:

• Reconciliation with God: the penitent recovers sanctifying grace.
• Reconciliation with the Church.
• Remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins.
• Remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin.
• Peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation.
• An increase in spiritual strength for the Christian battle.

Anointing of the Sick

By which a special grace is conferred during grave illness or old age

The fruits of this Sacrament are:

• Unity with the Passion of Christ, for the sick person’s own good and that of the whole Church.
• Strength, peace, and courage to endure as a Christian the sufferings of illness or old age.
• Forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it though the Sacrament of Penance.
• Restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of the soul.
• Preparation for entering eternal life.

Holy Orders

By which the task of serving in the name and in the Person of Christ is conferred

The fruits of this Sacrament are:

• The mission and faculty (“the sacred power”) to act in persona Christi.
• Configuration to Christ as Priest, Teacher, and Pastor.
• The imprinting, as in Baptism, of an indelible character that cannot be repeated or conferred temporarily.

Matrimony

By which a man and a woman form with each other an intimate communion of life and love

The fruits of this Sacrament are:

• The grace to love each other with the love which Christ has loved his Church.
• A perfecting of their human love.
• A strengthening of their indissoluble unity.
• Sanctification on their way to Heaven.
• The grace to “help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children.”
• An integration into God’s covenant with man: Authentic married love is caught up into divine love.

“Sacramentals are sacred signs which in a sense imitate the sacraments.  They signify certain effects, especially spiritual ones, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church.” “They prepare the faithful to receive the fruit of the sacraments and sanctify various circumstances of life.”

Sacramentals may consist of material things or actions.  “Among the sacramentals, blessings occupy and important place.  They include both praise of God for his works and gifts, and the Church’s intercession for men, that they may be able to use God’s gifts  according to the spirit of the Gospel.”  Some other sacramentals are: the Sign of the Cross, use of holy water, blessed rosaries, crucifixes, scapulars and medals.  Exorcism (expulsion of demons) is also a sacramental.

“What good dead must I do, to have eternal life?” – “If you would enter into life, keep the Commandments.” ^{Mt 19:16-17}

Christ – through the example of his own life and by his preaching – attested to the permanent validity of the Ten Commandments.

The Decalogue contains a privileged expression of the natural law.  It is made known to us by divine revelation and by human reason. ^{CCC 2075, 2076, 2080}

1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange gods before me.
2. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep hold the LORD’s Day.
4. Honor your father and mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

The obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by the pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor:

1. “You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation and rest from servile labor.”  –  This precept requires the completion of the Sunday observance by participation in the principal liturgical feasts that honor the mysteries of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, and the saints.  It requires, also, abstinence from those labors and business concerns that impede the worship to be rendered to God, the joy is proper to the Lord’s day, or the proper relaxation of mind and body.
2. “You shall confess your sins at least once a year.”  –  This precept ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.
3. “You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season.”  –  This precept guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord’s body and blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.
4. “You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.”  –  This precept ensures the times of ascesis and penance that prepare us for the liturgical feasts’ they help us acquire freedom of heart and master over our instincts.
5. “You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.”  –  This precept requires the faithful to contribute to the Church according to their own abilities.

^{CCC 2042-2043}

Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of just and right, by the admission of faults to one’s brethren, fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness.  Taking up one’s cross each day and following Jesus is the surest way of penance.”  “The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church’s penitential practice.”  ^{CCC 1435, 1438 | Lk 9:23}

All members of the Christian faithful are, in their own way, bound to do penance in virtue of divine law.  In order that all may be joined in a common observance of penance, penitential days are prescribed in which the Christian faithful, in a special way, pray’ exercise works of piety and charity; and deny themselves by fulfilling their responsibilities more faithfully, and especially by observing fast and abstinence according to the following:  ^{CIC 1244-1245, 1249-1253}

• The time of Lent and all Fridays of the year are, throughout the universal Church, days and times especially appropriate for spiritual exercises; penitential liturgies; pilgrimages as signs of penance; voluntary self-denial, such as fasting and almsgiving.
• Abstinence from meat (or some other food) or another penitential practice, according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops, is to be observed on each Friday of the year unless it is a solemnity.  Fast and abstinence from meat are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday.All persons who have completed their fourteenth year are bound by the last of abstinence.  All adults (eighteen years or older) are bound by the law to fast up to the beginning of their sixtieth year.  Pastors and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by a law of fast or abstinence are educated nevertheless in an authentic sense of penance.
• It is for the conference of bishops to determine more precisely the observances of fast and abstinence and to substitute in whole or in part for fast or abstinence other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety and missionary works.
• Diocesan bishops can proclaim special days of penance for their own dioceses or territories, but only for individual occasions (per modum actus).

The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor’s spiritual and bodily necessities.  Giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity; it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.

Corporal	Spiritual
• Feeding the hungry. • Giving drink to the thirsty. • Clothing the naked. • Sheltering the homeless. • Visiting the sick. • Visiting the imprisoned. • Burying the dead.	• Counseling the doubtful. • Instructing the ignorant. • Admonishing sinners. • Comforting the afflicted. • Forgiving offenses. • Bearing wrongs patiently. • Praying for the living and the dead.

Matrimony—defined as the marriage covenant by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life—is by its nature ordered towards the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring.  For a baptized couple, this covenant has been raised by Christ to the dignity of a sacrament.

Because Christ instituted this sacrament, he also gives a man and a woman their vocation to marriage.  The covenant thus involves not only a man and a woman, but also Christ.  In establishing marriage as a vocation in life, God gave it the characteristics that enable human love to achieve its perfection and allow family life to be full and fruitful.  Outside marriage, or without a proper realization of its nature, the right conditions for the fruitfulness of human love and for a successful family life do not exist.

The Catholic Church has the right to establish laws regarding the validity of marriages, since marriage for the baptized is both a covenant and a sacrament.  And it is only the Catholic Church that has jurisdiction over those marriages, with due regard for the competence of civil authority concerning the merely civil effects.  No one other than the Church has the power or authority to change ecclesiastical laws.

Unity and Indissolubility

Unity of marriage signifies that the covenant established is between one man and one woman: the husband cannot marry another woman during the lifetime of his wife, nor can the wife marry another man during the lifetime of her husband.  Polygamy—having more than one spouse at the same time—is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women, who in Matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and, therefore unique and exclusive.

Indissolubility refers to the fact that the bond of sacramental marriage cannot be broken except by the death of either the husband or the wife.

Consent

Matrimonial consent is an act of the will by which a man and a woman, in an irrevocable covenant, mutually give and accept each other, declaring their willingness to welcome children and to educate them.  Consent must be a free act of the will of each of the contracting parties, without coercion or serious fear arising from external circumstances.  To be free means:

• To be acting without constraint.
• To be unimpeded by natural or ecclesiastical law.

Only those capable of giving valid matrimonial consent can get married: Matrimony is created through the consent of the parties—consent legitimately manifested between persons who, according to law, are capable of giving that consent.

Conditions for a Valid Marriage

1.  The contracting parties must be capable, according toe Church law, of giving matrimonial consent.  Before Matrimony is celebrated, it must be evident that no impediment stands in the way of its valid and licit (lawful) celebration.

The right to contract marriage presupposes that one can marry, and one intends to authentically celebrate marriage, that is, to do so in the truth of its essence as it is taught by the Church…. The ‘ius connubii,’ therefore, is not being denied where it is evident that the premises for its exercise are not present, that is, if the requested capacity to wed is manifestly lacking, or an objective is sought that is contrary to the natural reality of marriage. ^{– Address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota for the Inauguration of the Juridical Year, January 29, 2009.}

2.  The consent given by the parties must be deliberate, fully voluntary, free, mutual, and public.  Therefore, the following are incapable of contracting marriage:

• Persons who lack sufficient use of reason.
• Persons who suffer from a grave lack of discretion of judgment concerning essential matrimonial rights and duties that are to be mutually given and accepted.
• Persons who, because of serious psychic illness, cannot assume the essential obligations of Matrimony.

3.  The consent must be legitimately manifested in canonical form, in the presence of an authorized priest or deacon and two witnesses.  Canonical form does not oblige non-Catholics when they marry other non-Catholics, but only Catholics—even if only one of the two parties is Catholic—who have not left the Church by a formal act.  The priest or deacon who assists at the celebration of a marriage receives the consent of the spouses in the name of the Church and gives them the blessing of the Church.  The presence of the Church’s minister, as well as that of the witnesses, visibly expresses the fact that marriage is an ecclesial reality.

Age Requirement

As a condition for marriage, the Church requires that a man has completed his sixteenth year (one’s sixteenth year is completed the day after one’s sixteenth birthday) and that a woman has completed her fourteenth year of age (one’s fourteenth year of age is completed the day after one’s fourteenth birthday).  These ages are the minima for validity.  There may be civil laws, as well, regulating the minimum age for each state and country, but failure to comply with these laws does not invalidate marriage in the eyes of the Church.

Invalid Marriages

Marriage is permanent, because God established it so from the very beginning.  The indissolubility of marriage is for the good of husband and wife, their children, and human society as a whole.  The civil government has no power to dissolve a valid marriage—even if the marriage is between non-Catholics.

The government can dissolve only the civil aspects of marriage, such as ownership of property, custody of children, etc.  Even when civil divorce is allowed by the country’s law, marriage, in God’s eyes, still exists.

The Church does not have the power to dissolve a valid, sacramental marriage that has been consummated.  She may declare a marriage null and void only upon investigation and on evidence that the marriage did not exist from the very beginning.  The reasons could be one of the following:

• Lack of fully voluntary and free consent.
• Some deficiency in the form of the marriage celebration.
• The presence of an impediment that makes a marriage invalid.

The declaration of nullity (so-called annulment) is a very important decision of an ecclesiastical court.  A very careful investigation has to be made by the court before that conclusion can be reached, ensuring that no valid marriage is declared null and void by mistake.

Mixed Marriages

Marriages between a Catholic and a baptized Christian who is not in full communion with the Catholic Church are called mixed marriages.  For mixed marriages, permission (not dispensation) from the local ordinary (usually the bishop) is required for validity.  Marriages between Catholics and unbaptized persons (disparity of cult) are invalid unless a dispensation from the local ordinary is granted.  All this presupposes that these marriages are celebrated with all other necessary conditions fulfilled.

The local bishop may grant permission or dispensation for such marriages on the following conditions:

• The Catholic party declares that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of falling away from the faith and makes a sincere promise to do all in his or her power to have all the children baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church.
• The other party is to be informed at an appropriate time of these promises that the Catholic person has to make.  It is important that the other person be truly aware of the commitments and obligations of the Catholic spouse.
• Both persons are to be instructed with respect to the essential ends and properties of marriage, which are not toe be excluded by either party.
• The man and woman should marry in the Catholic Church.  The canonical form (Church ceremony with an authorized Catholic priest or deacon and at least two other witnesses present) is to be followed.  When there are serious difficulties, the local bishop may give a dispensation and allow another form which is public (such as a civil ceremony) to be followed.  It is never allowed, however, to have the Catholic priest or deacon and a non-Catholic minister, rabbi, or public official, each performing his or her own rite, asking for the consent of the parties.  Likewise, it is forbidden to have another religious marriage ceremony before or after the Catholic ceremony for giving or receiving the matrimonial consent.  Marriage consent is given only once.

Worthy Reception of the Sacrament of Matrimony

Once these requirements for a valid marriage are fulfilled, some other conditions are needed for the worthy reception of the sacrament of Matrimony:

• Baptism.  Both parties must be baptized persons.
• Rectitude of intention.  Being carried away by emotions or momentary passions should be avoided.  Premarital pregnancy is not a sufficient reason to marry someone, as that could involve an added mistake.
• Spiritual preparation.  One should be in the state of grace.  The Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist are strongly recommended as immediate preparation.
• Confirmation.  Catholics should have previously received the Sacrament of Confirmation.  This Sacrament should be received before marriage, unless grave difficulties stand in the way.
• Knowledge of the duties of married life.  Such duties include mutual fidelity of the spouses until death, and care for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the children sent by God.
• Obedience to the marriage laws of the Church.

Definition

• “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment for sins, whose guilt is forgiven, which a properly disposed member of the Christian faithful obtains under certain and clearly defined conditions through the intervention of the Church, which, as the minister of Redemption, dispenses and applies authoritatively the treasury of the expiatory works of Christ and the saints.”
• “An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and ops for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments due for their sins.  Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity.”

Explanation

• An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.  It may be applied to the living or the dead: through indulgences the faithful can obtain—for themselves and also for the souls in purgatory—the remission of temporal punishment resulting from sin.  Because we and the faithful departed now being purified are members of the same communion of saints, one way in which we can help them is to obtain indulgences for them, so that the temporal punishments due to their sins may be remitted.

Requirements

“A plenary indulgence can be acquired only once in the course of a day; a partial indulgence can be acquired multiple times.  The faithful however can obtain the plenary indulgence at the hour of death, even if they have already gained one on the same day.”

“In order to be capable of gaining indulgences one must be baptized, not excommunicated, and in the state of grace at least at the completion of the prescribed works.  To gain an indulgence, one must have at least the general intention of doing so and must carry out the enjoined works at the stated time and in due fashion, according to the sense of the grant.”

“To gain a plenary indulgence, in addition to excluding all attachment to sin, even venial sin, it is necessary to perform the indulgenced work and fulfill the following three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff.”

“A single sacramental confession suffices for gaining several plenary indulgences; but Holy Communion must be received and prayer for the intention of the Holy Father must be recited for the gaining of each plenary indulgence.”

“The three conditions may be fulfilled several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work; it is, however, fitting that Communion be received and the prayer for the intention of the Holy Father be said on the same day the work is performed.”

“If the full disposition is lacking, or if the work and the three prescribed conditions are not fulfilled… the indulgence will only be partial.”

Plenary Indulgence

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who:

• Visit the Blessed Sacrament for adoration lasting at least a half hour.
• Visit a parish church:
  • On the solemnity of its titular feast.
  • On August 2, the day of the “Portiuncula indulgence.”
  • On All Souls’ Day (applicable to the dead only).

On these visits one should recite the Our Father and the Creed and fulfill the three requirements (Confession, Communion, and prayer for the pope’s intentions).

• Read the Sacred Scriptures for at least a half hour
• Make the pious Way of the Cross.
• Recite the Marian Rosary devoutly in a church, oratory, or in a family.
• Receive the Apostolic Blessing at the hour of death.

Partial Indulgence

One of the faithful who, being at least inwardly contrite, performs a work carrying with it a partial indulgence receives therough the Church the remission of temporal punishment.  “A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who:

• while carrying out their duties and enduring the hardships of life, raise their minds in humble trust to God and make, at least mentally, some pious invocation.
• led by the spirit of faith, give compassionately of themselves or of their good to serve their brothers in need.
• in a spirit of penance, voluntarily abstain from something that is licit for and pleasing to them.
• in the particular circumstances of daily life, voluntarily give explicit witness to their faith before others.”

A virtue is a habitual disposition to do good.  Among all the virtues, there are four that play a pivotal role and accordingly are called cardinal.

• Prudence, which disposes the practical reason to discern in every circumstance one’s true good and to choose the right means for achieving it.
• Justice, which consists in the firm and constant will to give God and neighbor their due.
• Fortitude, which ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.
• Temperance, which moderates the attraction of the pleasures of the senses and provides balance in the use of created goods.

The theological virtues dispose Christians to live in a close relationship with the Holy Trinity.  These virtues have God for their origin, their motive, and their object—God known by faith, God hoped in and loved for his own sake.

Faith

• “Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us and that holy Church proposes for our belief because he is truth itself.”
• “The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it.  But ‘faith apart from works is dead’: when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his body.”
• “The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it…. Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation.”

Hope

• “Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
• “The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness that God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire a men’s activities and purifies them, so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opes up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude.  Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.”
• “Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus’ preaching in the proclamation of the Beatitudes.”

Charity

• “Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.”
• “Jesus makes charity the new commandment…. ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.’  The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself.”
• “Charity is superior to all the virtues.  It is the first of the theological virtues.  The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which ‘binds everything together in perfect harmony.'”
• “The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God.  He no longer stands before God as a slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a son, as children responding to the love of him who ‘first loved us.'”

The gifts of the Holy Spirit belong in their fullness to Christ, the Son of David.  They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them.  They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.

• Wisdom: Improves our loving knowledge of God and all that leads to and comes from him, allowing us to enjoy his presence.
• Understanding: Perfects our perception of the mysteries of the Faith, enabling us to penetrate more deeply into the divine truths revealed by God.
• Counsel: Helps us to judge promptly, correctly, and according to the will of God.
• Fortitude: Makes us steadfast in the Faith, constant in struggle, and faithful in perseverance.
• Knowledge: Enables us to discover the supernatural truth contained in God’s creation and reveals the path that we should follow on our journey to Heaven.
• Piety; Teaches us the meaning of divine filiation, leading to a true love for God as our Father and for all human beings as his children.
• Fear of the Lord: Increases our sense of respect in the presence of an all-powerful and loving God.

The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory.

The apostolic tradition of the Church lists twelve fruits:

Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modest, self-control, and chastity.

“Sins are rightly evaluated according to their gravity.  The distinction between mortal and venial sin, already evident in the Scripture, became part of the apostolic tradition of the Church.  It is corroborated by human experience.”

“Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart” of the sinner.  It requires “a new initiative of God’s mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the sacrament of Reconciliation.  For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met.”

• Grave matter is specified by divine law (Ten Commandments) and the ultimate end of man.
• “Full knowledge [is] knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law…. Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense.  But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man.”
• “Complete consent [is] a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice.  Feigned ignorance and harness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin…. The promptings of feelings and passions can diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders.  Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.”

“Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends and wounds it.”

The Capital Sins can be classified according to the virtues they oppose.  They are called “capital” because they engender other sins, other vices.

Capital Sins:	Virtues Opposed:
Pride -->	Humility
Covetousness -->	Liberality
Lust -->	Chastity
Anger -->	Meekness
Gluttony -->	Temperance
Envy -->	Brotherly love
Sloth -->	Diligence

“‘Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.’  There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit.  Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.”  This sin blocks the person’s route to Christ, and the sinner puts himself outside the range of God’s forgiveness.  In this sense, the sins against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven.

Catechetical tradition recalls that there are “sins that cry to heaven“: the blood of Abel; the sin of the Sodomites; ignoring the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt and that of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan; injustice to the wage earner.

“The Beatitudes respond to the natural desire for happiness.  This desire is of divine origin: God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw us to the One who alone can fulfill it.  “They” teach man the final end to which God calls us: the Kingdom, the vision of God, participation in the divine nature, eternal life, filiation, rest in God.  “They are the heart of Jesus’ preaching.  “They continue the promises made to the Chosen People from the time of Abraham to the time of Christ, fulfilling the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory, but also to the Kingdom of heaven:

• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
• Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
• Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
• Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
• Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
• Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Blessed are you when men revile you, and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”

Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.  Prayer and Christian life are inseparable, for they concern the same love and the same renunciation, proceeding from love.

What is prayer?

“[Prayer] is commonly held to be a conversation.  In a conversation there is always an ‘I’ and a ‘thou’ or ‘you’.  In this case the ‘Thou’ is with a capital ‘T’.  If at first the ‘I’ seems to be the most important element in prayer, prayer teaches that the situation is actually different.  The ‘Thou’ is more important, because our prayer begins with God….

“In prayer, then, the true protagonist is God.  The protagonist is Christ, who constantly frees creation from slavery to corruption and leads it to the Holy Spirit, who ‘comes to the aid of our weakness.’  We begin to pray, believing that it is our own initiative that compels us to do so.  Instead, we learn that it is always God’s initiative within us, just as Saint Paul has written.  This initiative restores in us our true humanity; it restores in us our unique dignity.”

Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of what prayer is by reviewing the life of Christ.  He taught us how to pray.  When Jesus prayed to his Father, he was already teaching us how to pray.

“The Church invites the faithful to regular prayer: daily prayers, the Liturgy of the Hours, Sunday Eucharist, the feats of the liturgical year.”

Types of Prayer

“Prayer in the events of each day and each moment is one of the secrets of the kingdom revealed to ‘little children,’ to the servants of Christ, to the poor of the Beatitudes.  It is right and good to pray so that the coming of the kingdom of justice and peace may influence the march of history, but it is just as important to bring the help of prayer into humble, everyday situations; all forms of prayer can be the leaven to which the Lord compares the kingdom.”

“The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer:

• “Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart., following Christ’s example of praying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples.
• “Meditation is a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion, and desire.  Its goal is to make our own, in faith, the subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life.
• “Contemplative prayer is the simple expression of the mystery of prayer.  It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love.  It achieves real union with the prayer to Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery.”

The Battle of Prayer

The battle of prayer is inseparable from the necessary “spiritual battle” to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ: we pray as we live, because we live as we pray.

The principal difficulties that we find are:

• We “don’t have the time.”  Prayer is considered as an occupation incompatible with all the other things we have to do.
• We “get distracted.”  Concentration becomes really difficult and we easily give up.
  The remedy: Turn your heart back to God, offering him the distractions with humility, without discouragement.
• We “feel dry.”  It seems that the heart is separated from God, with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones.
  The remedy: Remember that “unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

There are two frequent temptations that threaten prayer:

• Lack of faith.  Prayer is not the first priority.
  The remedy: Ask our Lord with a humble heart, “Lord, increase my faith.”
• Acedia.  A form of depression stemming from lax ascetical practice, that leads to discouragement.
  The remedy: Trust God more and hold fast in constancy.