CATHOLIC WORD BOOK - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council

in 1907 in the decree Lamentabili and
issued the encyclical Pascendi to explain
and analyze its errors.
Monastery: The dwelling place, as well as
the community thereof, of monks
belonging to the Benedictine and
Benedictine related orders like the
Cistercians and Carthusians; also, the
Augustinians and Canons Regular.
Distinctive of monasteries are: their
separation from the world; the enclosure or
cloister; the permanence or stability of
attachment characteristic of their
members; autonomous government in
accordance with a monastic rule, like that
of St. Benedict in the West or of St. Basil
in the East; the special dedication of its
members to the community celebration of
the liturgy as well as to work that is
suitable to the surrounding area and the
needs of its people. Monastic superiors of
men have such titles as abbot and prior; of
women, abbess and prioress. In most
essentials, an abbey is the same as a
monastery.
Monk: A member of a monastic order —
e.g., the Benedictines, the Benedictine
related Cistercians and Carthusians, and
the Basilians, who bind themselves by
religious profession to stable attachment
to a monastery, the contemplative life and
the work of their community. In popular
use, the title is wrongly applied to many
men religious who really are not monks.
Monotheism: Belief in and worship of one
God.
Morality: Conformity or difformity of
behavior to standards of right conduct. (See
Moral Obligations, Commandments of
-48-
God, Precepts of the Church, Conscience,
Law.)
Mortification: Acts of self discipline,
including prayer, hardship, austerities and
penances undertaken for the sake of
progress in virtue.
Motu Proprio: A Latin phrase designating a
document issued by a pope on his own
initiative. Documents of this kind often
concern administrative matters.
Mystagogy: Experience of the mystery of
Christ, especially through participation in
the liturgy and the sacraments.
Mysteries of Faith: Supernatural truths
whose existence cannot be known without
revelation by God and whose intrinsic
truth, while not contrary to reason, can
never be wholly understood even after
revelation. These mysteries are above
reason, not against reason. Among them
are the divine mysteries of the Trinity,
Incarnation and Eucharist. Some mysteries
— e.g., concerning God’s attributes —
can be known by reason without
revelation, although they cannot be fully
understood.
N
Natural Law: See Law.
Natural Theology: The field of knowledge
that relies upon human reason and the
observation of nature, instead of
revelation, to determine the existence and
attributes of God.
Necromancy: Supposed communication
with the dead; a form of divination.