The Baltimore Smaller Catechism

Lesson 1: On the End of Man

Question 1:
Who made the world?
Answer:
God made the world.

Question 2:
Who is God?
Answer:
God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things.

Question 3:
What is man?
Answer:
Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God.

Question 6:
Why did God make you?
Answer:
God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.

Question 9:
What must we do to save our souls?
Answer:
To save our souls, we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope inHim, and love Him with all our heart.

Question 10:
How shall we know the things which we are to believe?
Answer:
We shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic Church, through which God speaks to us.

Question 11:
Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?
Answer:
We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles' Creed.

Question 12:
Say the Apostles' Creed.

Lesson 2: On God and His Perfections

Question 13:
What is God?
Answer:
God is a spirit infinitely perfect.

Question 14:
Had God a beginning
Answer:
God had no beginning; He always was and He always will be.

Question 15:
Where is God?
Answer:
God is everywhere.

Question 16:
If God is everywhere, why do we not see Him?
Answer:
We do not see God, because He is a pure spirit and cannot be seen with bodily eyes.

Question 17:
Does God see us?
Answer:
God sees us and watches over us.

Question 18:
Does God know all things?
Answer:
God knows all things, even our most secret thoughts, words, and actions.

Question 19:
Can God do all things?
Answer:
God can do all things, and nothing is hard or impossible to Him.

Question 20:
Is God just, holy, and merciful?
Answer:
God is all just, all holy, all merciful, as He is infinitely perfect.

Lesson 3: On the Unity and Trinity of God

Question 21:
Is there but one God?
Answer:
Yes; there is but one God.

Question 22:
Why can there be but one God?
Answer:
There can be but one God, because God, being supreme and infinite, cannot have an equal.

Question 23:
How many Persons are there in God?
Answer:
In God there are three Divine Persons, really distinct, and equal in all things-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Question 24:
Is the Father God?
Answer:
The Father is God and the first Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Question 25:
Is the Son God?
Answer:
The Son is God and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Question 26:
Is the Holy Ghost God?
Answer:
The Holy Ghost is God and the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Question 27:
What is the Blessed Trinity?
Answer:
The Blessed Trinity is one God in three Divine Persons.

Question 29:
Are the three Divine Persons one and the same God?
Answer:
The three Divine Persons are one and the same God, having one and the same Divine nature.

Lesson 4: On the Angels adn our First Parents

Question 34:
Which are the chief creatures of God?
Answer:
The chief creatures of God are men and angels.

Question 35:
What are angels?
Answer:
Angels are bodiless spirits created to adore and enjoy God in heaven.

Question 39:
Who were the first man and woman?
Answer:
The first man and woman were Adam and Eve.

Question 40:
Were Adam and Eve innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God?
Answer:
Adam and Eve were innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God.

Question 43:
Did Adam and Eve remain faithful to God?
Answer:
Adam and Eve did not remain faithful to God; but broke His command by eating the forbidden fruit.

Question 44:
What befell Adam and Eve on account of their sin?
Answer:
Adam and Eve on account of their sin lost innocence and holiness, and were doomed to misery and death.

Question 45:
What evil befell us through the disobedience of our first parents?
Answer:
Through the disobedience of our first parents we all inherit their sin and punishment, as we should have shared in their happiness if they had remained faithful.

Question 47:
What is the sin called which we inherit from our first parents?
Answer:
The sin which we inherit from our first parents is called original sin.

Question 50:
Was any one ever preserved from original sin?
Answer:
The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merit of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her Immaculate Conception.

Lesson 5: On Sin and It's Kinds

Question 51:
Is original sin the only kind of sin?
Answer:
Original sin is not the only kind of sin; there is another kind of sin, which we commit ourselves, called actual sin.

Question 52:
What is actual sin?
Answer:
Actual sin is any willful thought, word, deed or omission contrary to the law of God.

Question 53:
How many kinds of actual sin are there?
Answer:
There are two kinds of actual sin-mortal and venial.

Question 54:
What is mortal sin?
Answer:
Mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God.

Question 57:
What is venial sin?
Answer:
Venial sin is a slight offense against the law of God in matters of less importance; or in matters of great importance it is an offence committed with out sufficient reflection or full consent of the will.

Question 59:
Which are the chief sources of sin?
Answer:
The chief sources of sin are seven: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth; and they are commonly called capital sins.

Lesson 6: On the Incarnation and Redemption

Question 60:
Did God abandon man after he fell into sin?
Answer:
God did not abandon man after he fell into sin, but promised him a Redeemer, who was to satisfy for man's sin and reopen to him the gates of heaven.

Question 61:
Who is the Redeemer?
Answer:
Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of mankind.

Question 62:
What do you believe of Jesus Christ?
Answer:
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, true God and true man.

Question 69:
What do you mean by the Incarnation?
Answer:
By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man.

Question 70:
How was the Son of God made man?
Answer:
The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Question 74:
On what day was the Son of God conceived and made man?
Answer:
The Son of God was conceived and made man on Annunciation day-the day on which the angel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of God.

Question 75:
On what day was Christ born?
Answer:
Christ was born on Christmas day in a stable at Bethlehem, over nineteen hundred years ago.

Lesson 7: On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension

Question 78:
What did Jesus Christ Suffer?
Answer:
Jesus Christ suffered a bloody sweat, a cruel scourging, was crowned with thorns, and was crucified.

Question 79:
On what clay did Christ die?
Answer:
Christ died on Good Friday.

Question 83:
Why did Christ suffer and die?
Answer:
Christ suffered and died for our sins

Question 89:
On what day did Christ rise from the dead?
Answer:
Christ rose from the dead, glorious and immortal, on Easter Sunday, the third day after His death.

Question 91:
After Christ had remained forty days on earth, whither did He go?
Answer:
After forty days Christ ascended into heaven, and the day on which He ascended into heaven is called Ascension day.

Lesson 8: On the Holy Ghost and His Descent upon the Apostles

De-scent', the act of coming down.
En-a'ble, to make able.
En-light'en, to make them understand better.
Pen'te-cost, the fiftieth day after Easter.
Preach, declare publicly, spread by word of mouth.
Sanc'ti-fy, to make holy.
Strength'en, make strong.
Whit'sun-day, white Sunday.

Question 94:
Who is the Holy Ghost?
Answer:
The Holy Ghost is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Question 97:
On what day did the Holy Ghost come down upon the Apostles?
Answer:
The Holy Ghost came down upon the Apostles ten days after the Ascension of our Lord; and the day on which He came down upon the Apostles is called Whitsunday, or Pentecost.

Question 99:
Who sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles?
Answer:
Our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles.

Question 100:
Why did Christ send the Holy Ghost?
Answer:
Christ sent the Holy Ghost to sanctify His Church, to enlighten and strengthen the Apostles, and to enable them to preach the Gospel.