A Catechumen’s Test – Have I Left Anything Out?
7February 19, 2014 by lucieromarin
So, a friend of mine is to be baptised in a couple of weeks, and I’m godmother! Naturally, I have to check that he’s learned his stuff before I let him in the big day, so I’ve prepared a test which he’s going to sit in the next week (he’s a nice guy; very accommodating of my foibles.)
Of course, I don’t really expect him to be able to answer every question on the test, but it will be interesting to see what he’s learned. The real question is – have I left something out? Is there something I should be checking, but haven’t?
- How many natures does God have?
- How many persons are there in God?
- Name the person or persons in God.
- Who is generated, and by whom?
- Who is spirated, and by whom?
- Define ‘nature.’
- Define ‘person.’
- Can we know and prove the existence of God by reason alone?
- Can we know the existence of the Blessed Trinity by reason?
- Who is Jesus Christ?
- What is Jesus Christ?
- How many natures does Our Lord have?
- How many persons are there in Our Lord?
- Who is the father of Jesus?
- Who is the mother of Jesus?
- What is the Hypostatic Union?
- How many sacraments are there?
- Name the sacraments.
- What is the Eucharist?
- Who can go to Holy Communion?
- Under what circumstances must you abstain from Holy Communion?
- When (time of year) must you go to Holy Communion?
- Under what circumstances must you go to Confession?
- When (time of year) must you go to Confession?
- What is the Easter Duty?
- What is obligatory, every Friday, under pain of sin?
- What is obligatory, every Sunday, under pain of mortal sin (except in cases of illness)?
- What is a Holy Day of Obligation?
- Name the Holy Days of Obligation in Australia.
- What is the Mass?
- When was the first Mass?
- What is the Immaculate Conception?
- Did Our Lady’s physical signs of virginity remain intact during and after the birth of Christ?
- How many other children did Our Lady have?
- What is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin?
- What is Original Sin?
- Name the seven capital sins (also called the deadly sins.)
- Why are they called capital/deadly?
- What is the penalty for mortal sin?
- How is grace restored to a soul in mortal sin?
- What is the penalty for being in a state of mortal sin at the time of death?
- What is the penalty for venial sin, or the remains of sin, or incomplete atonement for sin at the time of death?
- Is it possible to go to Heaven immediately after death?
- Name the patron saint of a good death. (Clue: he’s also the patron of the Universal Church.)
- Name the three forms of Baptism.
- What do you receive at Baptism?
- What do you receive at Confirmation?
- What is sanctifying grace?
- What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit?
- What are the fruits of the Holy Spirit?
- What is the Communion of Saints?
- What is the Treasury of Merit?
- What is the Church?
- Does the Church have a soul?
- Where is the Church Militant?
- Where is the Church Suffering?
- Where is the Church Triumphant?
- Of which Apostle is the Pope the successor?
- Over which Church or Churches (i.e. Militant, Suffering, Triumphant) does he preside?
- What is infallibility?
- When did public revelation end?
- How is the Word of God transmitted to us?
- Define ‘soul.’
- Define ‘spirit.’
- Does an angel have a soul?
- Does an angel have a body?
- Does a man have a soul or a spirit?
- Explain the immortality of the human soul without reference to the Bible.
Roadkill Rhapsody 
That is truly terrifying. Is this an “open book” test?
Hmmm – I don’t know! The only condition is that he doesn’t ask my flatmate anything, but I guess if the rest of us have to look up catechisms and things, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t either. I suggested I just email it to him and he could send it back whenever, but he said it would be more appropriate to have ‘test conditions’ (yes, he really said that!)…and then, of course, we can have a cup of tea afterwards and a friendly chitchat.
…and now I find that I don’t actually have a copy of the Catechism on my shelf; only the Compendium. Physician, heal thyself etc etc…
Oh dear. I appear to have forgotten a lot of these. (Is ‘Yes, just don’t ask me to’ a sufficient answer for Q.8?)
Perhaps you could run a side line of refresher courses?
Yep, that’s a perfectly acceptable response! I’d have to run a refresher course for myself; I was about to write ‘name the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit,’ – and then I couldn’t remember what they were. So either I include it anyway and ‘fess up, or I don’t include it and ‘fess up to a biased exam! I’m going to take out the one about proving the immortality of the soul – it only made it in because another convert-friend asked me about it before his conversion. But I guess that doesn’t make it a universally necessary thing to be able to do…
Hmm. You can tell the stuff about the virgin birth was made up by men. No one who has ever actually given birth would a) want an intact hymen to contend with as well as everything else or b) actually care one way or another about the state of their nether regions so long as the baby comes out alive and without killing them. Although I suppose miraculous healing beats stitches any day… 😉
A miracle’s a miracle, wherever it’s peformed! I like knowing that God doesn’t think that only some parts of the body can be used for miracles and salvation, not to mention signifying the divinity of His Son.