CATHOLIC WORD BOOK - Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council

prayer, liturgical acts and ceremonies, and
especially sacrifice.
Adultery: Marital infidelity. Sexual
intercourse between a married person and
another to whom one is not married, a
violation of the obligations of the marital
covenant, chastity and justice; any sin of
impurity (thought, desire, word, action)
involving a married person who is not
one’s husband or wife has the nature of
adultery.
Advent Wreath: A wreath of laurel, spruce,
or similar foliage with four candles which
are lighted successively in the weeks of
Advent to symbolize the approaching
celebration of the birth of Christ, the Light
of the World, at Christmas. The wreath
originated among German Protestants.
Agape: A Greek word, meaning love, love
feast, designating the meal of fellowship
eaten at some gatherings of early
Christians. Although held in some places
in connection with the Mass, the agape
was not part of the Mass, nor was it of
universal institution and observance. It
was infrequently observed by the fifth
century and disappeared altogether
between the sixth and eighth centuries.
Age of Reason: (1) The time of life when
one begins to distinguish between right
and wrong, to understand an obligation
and take on moral responsibility; seven
years of age is the presumption in church
law. (2) Historically, the 18th century
period of Enlightenment in England and
France, the age of the Encyclopedists and
Deists. According to a basic thesis of the
Enlightenment, human experience and
reason are the only sources of certain
knowledge of truth; consequently, faith
and revelation are discounted as valid
sources of knowledge, and the reality of
supernatural truth is called into doubt
and/or denied.
Aggiornamento: An Italian word having
the general meaning of bringing up to
date, renewal, revitalization, descriptive of
the processes of spiritual renewal and
institutional reform and change in the
Church; fostered by the Second Vatican
Council.
Agnosticism: A theory which holds that a
person cannot have certain knowledge of
immaterial reality, especially the existence
of God and things pertaining to him.
Immanuel Kant, one of the philosophical
fathers of agnosticism, stood for the
position that God, as well as the human
soul, is unknowable on speculative
grounds; nevertheless, he found practical
imperatives for acknowledging God’s
existence, a view shared by many
agnostics. The First Vatican Council
declared that the existence of God and
some of his attributes can be known with
certainty by human reason, even without
divine revelation. The word agnosticism
was first used, in the sense given here, by
T. H. Huxley in 1869.
Agnus Dei: A Latin phrase, meaning Lamb
of God. (1) A title given to Christ, the
Lamb (victim) of the Sacrifice of the New
Law (on Calvary and in Mass). (2) A prayer
said at Mass before the reception of Holy
Communion. (3) A sacramental. It is a
round paschal candle fragment blessed by
the pope. On one side it bears the
impression of a lamb, symbolic of Christ.
On the reverse side, there may be any one
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