> [[js-cm-06|← On Prayer]] | [[the-carmelite-manual-toc|TOC]] | [[js-cm-08|A Short Regulation of Life →]] # A Profession of Catholic Faith I, N.N. with a firm faith believe, and profess all and every one of those things which are contained in that Creed which the Holy Catholic (Roman) Church maketh use of; to wit, I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things, visible and invisible: and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages; God of God; light of light; true God of the true God; begotten, not made; consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary; and was made man. Was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, and was buried: and the third day he rose again, according to the scriptures: he ascended into heaven; sits at the right hand of the Father; and is to come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end. And in the Holy Ghost the Lord and life giver, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And (I believe) One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church: I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins: and I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. I most steadfastly admit and embrace Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the Church. I also admit the holy Scripture according to that sense, which our holy mother, the Church, has held, and does hold, to which it belongs to Judge, of the true sense and interpretations of the Scriptures: neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers. I also profess, that there are truly and properly seven Sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind; though not all, for every one: to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; and that they confer grace: And tist of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Order, cannot be reiterated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the received and approved Ceremonies of the Catholic Church, in the solemn administration of all the aforesaid Sacraments. I embrace and receive all and every one of the things which have been defined and declared in the holy Council of Trent, concerning Original Sin, and Justification. I profess likewise, that in the Mass, there is offered to God, a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead. And that in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, there is truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ: And that there is made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood; which conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. I also confess, that under either kind alone Christ is received whole and entire, and a true sacrament is received. I constantly hold, that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls therein detained, are helped by the suffrages of the faithful. Likewise that the Saints reigning together with Christ, are to be honoured and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be respected. I most firmly assert, that the Images of Christ, of the Mother of God ever Virgin, and also of other Saints, may be had and retained, and that due honour and veneration is to be given them. I also affirm, that the power of Indulgences was left by Christ, in the Church, and that the use of them is most wholesome to Christian people. I acknowledge the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church, for the Mother and Mistress of all Churches; and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Jesus Christ. I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other things delivered, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons, and General Councils, and particularly by the holy Council of Trent. And I condemn, reject, and anathematize, all things contrary thereto, and all heresies whatsoever, condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the Church. This true Catholic faith, without which no one can be saved, I, N. N. do at this present freely profess and sincerely hold, and I promise most constantly to retain, and confess the same entire and unviolated, with God's assistance, to the end of my life. Amen. --- ![[maps/bibliography#^biblio-spratt]] > [[js-cm-06|← On Prayer]] | [[the-carmelite-manual-toc|TOC]] | [[js-cm-08|A Short Regulation of Life →]]