Friday, May 16, 2003

What I believe



On being a Catholic:
  • God, Christ, the Trinity, the hypostatic union, Mary the Mother of God, bishops, the Mass, sacraments that do what they signify, baptismal regeneration, auricular confession, and the option of using images in worship ("all can, some should, none must").
  • Doctrine.
  • Creed.
  • The true church subsists in the Catholic Church.
  • The common set of beliefs and practices of the ancient churches with apostolic succession (us, the separated Eastern churches including the Orthodox, and a few splinter groups). The Vincentian canon and the great Catholic family of valid orders (again, the ancient churches: credal orthodoxy, unbroken apostolic succession, and unbroken true teaching about the Eucharist).
  • Traditional Mass (video).
  • Office. (Actually I have Winfred Douglas’ Monastic Diurnal, the Benedictine office in traditional Book of Common Prayer language.)
  • The Orthodox rite. A rite is a school of Christian thought and living.
  • Prayer for the dead.
  • The church is infallible, limited by tradition, its doctrines final. The Pope's office is part of church infallibility.
  • Integralism: a complete Catholic worldview, the social reign of Christ.
Background:
More: