Have you ever wondered what an Aspergillum was? Perhaps not! How about a Sacramental? Or do you know the difference between a homily and sermon? As with any major institution or organisation in the world, the Catholic Church uses words that are exclusive to it – call it “jargon”, if you will. These words can be confusing, not only to outsiders but even to “cradle Catholics”.
This little book attempts to overcome that confusion by providing definitions, explanations and as many illustrations as possible for this array of special words.
As with any major institution or organisation in the world, the Catholic Church uses words that are exclusive to it – call it “jargon”, if you will. These words can be confusing, not only to outsiders but even to “cradle Catholics”. The Church also assigns meanings to everyday words that are completely different to the norm. For example, did you know that there are five different meanings of the word “ordinary” in the Church’s lexicon, but none of them is, well, ordinary? This little book attempts to overcome that confusion by providing definitions, explanations and as many illustrations as possible for this array of special words. It is a sort of combination dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopaedia and pictionary, all in one small book. It makes no attempt to go into the liturgy or theology behind the words, except when that forms part of the definition or explanation, but it does try to illuminate, elucidate and even teach a little!
“This book is a valuable resource for the candidates who are preparing to be received into the Church, for the catechumens, the sponsors and catechists who are involved in RCIA, for the altar servers, lay ministers — sacristans, proclaimers and communion givers who assist us to worship in truth and in spirit, and for those who are in initial stages of formation and training: postulants, novices and young seminarians” – Bishop Vincent Zungu OFM.
