CATHOLIC WORD BOOK - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council

teaching is an inexhaustible store that
rewards and promotes reflection and study
so that new insights and deeper
penetration might be made into the
mystery of the divine economy of
salvation. Although our understanding of
this teaching can develop, it can never be
augmented in its substance; the teaching is
a divine trust, that cannot be altered,
modified, or debased. The term depositum
fidei first entered official Catholic teaching
with the Council of Trent, but its
substance is well-attested in the Scriptures
and the Fathers.
Despair: Abandonment of hope for
salvation arising from the conviction that
God will not provide the necessary means
for attaining it, that following God’s way
of life for salvation is impossible, or that
one’s sins are unforgivable; a serious sin
against the Holy Spirit and the theological
virtues of hope and faith, involving
distrust in the mercy and goodness of God
and a denial of the truths that God wills
the salvation of all persons and provides
sufficient grace for it. Real despair is
distinguished from unreasonable fear with
respect to the difficulties of attaining
salvation, from morbid anxiety over the
demands of divine justice, and from
feelings of despair.
Detraction: Revelation of true but hidden
faults of a person without sufficient and
justifying reason; a violation of
requirements of justice and charity,
involving the obligation to make
restitution when this is possible without
doing more harm to the good name of the
offended party. In some cases, e.g., to
prevent evil, secret faults may and should
be disclosed.
Devil: (1) Lucifer, Satan, chief of the fallen
angels who sinned and were banished from
heaven. Still possessing angelic powers, he
can cause such diabolical phenomena as
possession and obsession, and can tempt
men to sin. (2) Any fallen angel.
Devotion: (1) Religious fervor, piety;
dedication. (2) The consolation
experienced at times during prayer; a
reverent manner of praying.
Devotions: Pious practices of members of
the Church include not only participation
in various acts of the liturgy but also in
other acts of worship generally called
popular or private devotions. Concerning
these, the Second Vatican Council said in
the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy
(Sacrosanctum Concilium, No. 13): “Popular
devotions of the Christian people are
warmly commended, provided they accord
with the laws and norms of the Church.
Such is especially the case with devotions
called for by the Apostolic See. Devotions
proper to the individual churches also have
a special dignity. These devotions should
be so drawn up that they harmonize with
the liturgical seasons, accord with the
sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived
from it, and lead the people to it, since the
liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any
of them.” Devotions of a liturgical type are
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament,
recitation of Evening Prayer and Night
Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours.
Examples of paraliturgical devotion are a
Bible Service or Vigil, and the Angelus,
Rosary and Stations of the Cross, which
have a strong scriptural basis.
Diocese: A particular church, a fully
organized ecclesiastical jurisdiction under
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