Baltimore Catechism No. 1 (of 4) | Page 8

A. The

Commandments of God are these ten:
1. I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3.
Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day. 4. Honor thy father and thy
mother. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7.
Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. 10. Thou shalt
not covet thy neighbor's goods.

LESSON TWENTY-SIXTH ON THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
315. Q. What is the first Commandment? A. The first Commandment is:
I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
317. Q. How do we adore God? A. We adore God by faith, hope, and
love, by prayer and sacrifice.
318. Q. How may the first Commandment be broken? A. The first
Commandment may be broken by giving to a creature the honor which
belongs to God alone; by false worship; and by attributing to a creature
a perfection which belongs to God alone.
320. Q. Are sins against faith, hope, and charity also sins against the
first Commandment? A. Sins against faith, hope, and charity are also
sins against the first Commandment.
321. Q. How does a person sin against faith? A. A person sins against
faith: 1st, by not trying to know what God has taught; 2d, by refusing to
believe all that God has taught; 3d, by neglecting to profess his belief in
what God has taught.
326. Q. Are we obliged to make open profession of our faith? A. We
are obliged to make open profession of our faith as often as God's
honor, our neighbor's spiritual good, or our own requires it.
327. Q. Which are the sins against hope? A. The sins against hope are
presumption and despair.
328. Q. What is presumption? A. Presumption is a rash expectation of
salvation without making proper use of the necessary means to obtain
it.
329. Q. What is despair? A. Despair is the loss of hope in God's mercy.

LESSON TWENTY-SEVENTH THE FIRST

COMMANDMENT--ON THE HONOR AND INVOCATION OF
SAINTS
331. Q. Does the first Commandment forbid the honoring of the saints?
A. The first Commandment does not forbid the honoring of the saints,
but rather approves of it, because by honoring the saints, who are the
chosen friends of God, we honor God Himself.
332. Q. Does the first Commandment forbid us to pray to the saints? A.
The first Commandment does not forbid us to pray to the saints.
333. Q. What do we mean by praying to the saints? A. By praying to
the saints we mean the asking of their help and prayers.
340. Q. Does the first Commandment forbid us to honor relics? A. The
first Commandment does not forbid us to honor relics, because relics
are the bodies of the saints or objects directly connected with them or
with our Lord.
341. Q. Does the first Commandment forbid the making of images? A.
The first Commandment does forbid the making of images if they are
made to be adored as gods, but it does not forbid the making of them to
put us in mind of Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother, and the saints.
342. Q. Is it right to show respect to the pictures and images of Christ
and His saints? A. It is right to show respect to the pictures and images
of Christ and His saints, because they are the representations and
memorials of them.
343. Q. Is it allowed to pray to the crucifix or to the images and relics
of the saints? A. It is not allowed to pray to the crucifix or images and
relics of the saints, for they have no life, nor power to help us, nor
sense to hear us.
344. Q. Why do we pray before the crucifix and the images and relics
of the saints? A. We pray before the crucifix and images and relics of
the saints because they enliven our devotion by exciting pious
affections and desires, and by reminding us of Christ and of the saints,
that we may imitate their virtues.

LESSON TWENTY-EIGHTH FROM THE SECOND TO THE
FOURTH COMMANDMENT
345. Q. What is the second Commandment? A. The second
Commandment is: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain.

346. Q. What are we commanded by the second Commandment? A.
We are commanded by the second Commandment to speak with
reverence of God and of the saints, and of all holy things, and to keep
our lawful oaths and vows.
347. Q. What is an oath? A. An oath is the calling upon