INDEX PART 1 Introduction

*1. Why are we in this world?
We are in this world to worship God and to save our souls.

2. What do you mean by "to worship God"?
To worship God means to know,love and serve Him.

3. What do you mean by "to save your souls"?
To save our souls means to avoid Hell and to enter Heaven after death.

4. How should you worship God?
I should worship God:
a) by entering the religion which He has founded;
b) by firmly beliving all His doctrines;
c) by keeping His commandments;
d) by using well all His means of obtaining graces.

GOD
*5. Do you believe in God.
I believe in God.

*6. Who is God?
God is the creator and True Lord of Heaven and earth, of the angels, of men, and of all things.

*7. Is God a spirit?
God is a pure spirit, that is, He has no body.

*8. How does God exist?
God exists of Himself, without beginning and without end.

9. Is God good and happy?
God is infinitely good and happy.

*10. Where is God?
God is everywhere.

*11. Does God know all things?
God knows all things: past, present, and future, including the most secret thoughts of the heart.

*12. Is God powerful?
God is all-powerful; He can do whatever He wishes.

*13. Is God infinitely good?
God is infinitely good; He loves what is good and hates what is evil.

14. Is God infinitely just?
God is infinitely just; He rewards every good work, and punishes every evil, if not in this life, then surely in the next.

15. Is God infinitely merciful?
God is infinitely merciful; He gladly forgives all who are truly sorry for their sins.

THE BLESSED TRINITY

*16. How many Gods are there?
There is only one God.

*17. How many persons are there in God?
There are three persons in God

*18. What are these three persons called?
The first is called the Father, the second the Son, and the third the Holy Ghost.

19. Is any one of the three Divine Persons greater than or above the others?
The three Divine Persons are equal in all things, being one Nature, one Substance, one God.

20. Is there then no difference between the three Divine Persons?
1n their Divine nature, there is no difference between them; but as a person, each differs from the others.

CREATION

*21. Why do you say that God created heaven and earth?
Because God made heaven and earth and all things out of nothing, by his word only.

22. Why did God make heaven and earth and all things?
God made heaven and earth and all things to manifest His glory, and to-help men to worship Him and to save their souls.

23. After God had made all things, do they still need Him to conserve them?
Yes all creatures need God to conserve them always without a moment's interruption.

24. Does God rule heaven and earth?
God rules not only heaven and earth, but all things in the world, man's life and death, his joys and sorrows.

THE ANGELS

*25. Which are noblest beings God has made?

26. What is an angel?
An angel is a spirit without a body; he cannot die or perish, and he has wonderful intelligence and power.

27. Did the angels go to heaven immediately after being created?
No, God wished them to merit before entering heaven.

28. Did all the angels merit Heaven?
No; some of them wickedly desired to be equal to God, and fell into the sin of pride.

29. How did God punish them?
God punished them by sending them to Hell, and they were changed into hideous devils.

30. What reward did the good angels gain?
They gained Heaven; they see God always, and enjoy eternal happiness.

*31. Who is our guardian angel?
Our guardian angel is the angel sent by God to protect us in body and soul during our whole life.

32. What is our duty towards our guardian angel?
We should honour, love and thank him; and when we are in danger, we should call on him and trust him.

An angel appeared to joachim and said: "I am sent to annouce to you that your prayers have been heard . . . I have seen how you were put to shame, and heard the reproach of childlessness wrongly put upon you. God punishes not nature but sin, and therefore, when he closes a woman's womb, he does this in order to open it miraculously later on, . . . So then, your wife will bear you a daughter and you will call her Mary. As you have vowed, she will be consecrated to the Lord from infancy and filled with the Holy Spirit from her mothers womb. . . . Miraculously, the Son of the Most High will be born of her. His name will be Jesus, and through him all nations will be saved. And let this be a sign to you when you arrive at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem, Anne your will be there waiting for you. . . . Meanwhile, Anne was weeping bitterly, not knowing where her husband had gone, when the same angel . . . revealed to her the same things he had told Joachim, and added that . . . she should go to Jerusalem's Golden Gate, where she would meet her husband. . . . So they met as the angel had predicted, and were happy to see each other and to be sure they were to have a child. They adored God and went to their home, joyfully awaiting the fulfillment of the divine promise. Anne conceived and brought forth a daughter and they called her name mary. Anne and Joachim took mary at age three to dedicate her to God at the temple. They set the child down at the foot of the temple hill and she climbed the fifteen steps like a grown-up. When the saints had made their offering, they left Mary to be raised with the other temple virgins and returned home gladly